


The Darkside of the Moon

by Sugarlesswriting



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarlesswriting/pseuds/Sugarlesswriting
Summary: Wally, Abby, Hoagie, and Kuki were just your average seniors in high school. Well, that was until their world was turned upside down by an intergalactic war.
Relationships: Hoagie Pennywhistle Gilligan Jr./Abigail Lincoln, Wallabee Beetles/Kuki Sanban
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been brewing in my mind for about a month now and as I started to write it I really started to fall in love with it. I hope you enjoy it! Also my apologies for the short summary, I've never been good with them lol.

The year the Galactic Kids Next Door decided that Earth was unfit to remain in the galaxy was when everything between the teens, evil adults, and operatives of the KND changed. Banding together they decided to keep the people of Earth safe. Knowing there was no way that they would be able to evacuate the billions of people from the planet. The battle only lasted no more than 12 hours but most of the operatives from all sides perished at the hands of the GKND. All was not in vain as the three groups of Earth defeated and won the war against the GKND.

  
The war was won, however, the newly deemed leader of the teens, Chad Dickson, had a meeting with the supreme leader of the KND, Rachel. It was decided there the Kids Next Door would officially be disbanded. The KND were there to stop adult tyranny, not be the child soldiers that they became that day. If one were to ask, Chad would admit that he still dreams of the meeting. The tears and the intense emotions that the two felt for the ones that were lost. Rachel, not wanting the remaining children to remain scarred from the event decided that every KND operative would be decommissioned. To no one’s surprise, the kids embraced the ability to forget.

  
The adults, villains of yesterday, decided they too would give up their stance. Mr. Boss was the first to suggest decommissioning, stating, “I’d rather grow old with my kids rather than fight some teenager who’s self-righteous.” The adults who too saw the horror of which they could never fathom, decided it was best to forget. To move on with life as a regular grandmother, or a normal candy shop owner who would now mainly sell sugarless candies. It was the adults who used the decommissioning chambers.  
Chad made it his duty to be there for each decommissioning. Adult or child, he deemed it important to show them who was going to be running this generation of protectors. He wanted them to feel solace with that. Rachel was the last to be decommissioned.

  
The defeated smile she wore before having her memory wiped would forever be in Chad’s mind. All of their faces would be there. Soon it was known that the teenagers would be the ones to protect the Earth from the threats of outer space. After the fight with the GKND changed something in the once children hating teens, they realized that they should be shielded by the evil of the universe as long as possible.

  
Chad thought it was better this way. The Earth, and any other planet out there that needed help, would be protected by the new forces of Earth. To those needing their help, they were known as the Galactic Defenders.

Chapter One

3:30 P.M. McClintock High School. Room 203.

Wallabee Beetles, known by everyone around him as just Wally, sat at an old desk. He throws one sloppy joe at a guy and all of sudden it warrants a nice seat in detention. How unfair. Now that he thought about it why wasn’t that jerk in here too? He started it by calling Wally a short stack. So what if Wally only stood at 5’2? He could still take on that annoying asshat. He should have thrown his fists instead of his food.

  
He let out a loud groan of annoyance. How much longer did he have? He looked up at the clock. 3:31.

  
“You have to got to be kidding me!” He yelled, slamming his fists on the desk.

  
The teacher in charge of him quickly told him to zip it. Wally did not.

  
“But it’s so boring! You can’t expect me to be here for a whole hour!” He whined.

  
“It’s an hour and thirty minutes.” She told him, taking out some papers she decided to grade during the meantime.  
Wally’s head met the desk as he grumbled out, “I’m going to die in here.”

  
The teacher simply rolled her eyes. Teenagers were so dramatic.

  
Wally’s eyes caught sight of the pencil that was poking out of his bookbag. There was one way to get out of here. The gears in that brain of his began to slowly turn. What if he stabbed himself with that? He would have to be able to leave detention! He looked up at the teacher. She was too busy grading papers, it would be easy for him to just grab the pencil. His fingertips almost grasped it when he heard the teacher speak up.

  
“You better not be doing anything stupid.”

  
He looked back to her, faking a look of hurt as he brought his pencil out.

  
“Wha- I am just going to do a little homework! I am hurt that you would think that I would do something otherwise. Hurt I tell ya!” His words were obviously a lie, but his teacher just stared at him for a moment longer before going back to her grading.

  
That lady was smart, Wally had to be careful. He pulled out a random sheet of homework and wrote his name. Good start. Now that the teacher thought he was up to his homework he began to think of other ways to leave the room. It had to be something that no teacher would say no to. His eyes lit up when he came up with the plan.  
He started to squirm in his seat. Careful to only do it every so often until she looked up again.

  
“What is it, Mr. Beetles?” She asked, her voice showing that she did in fact not care about whatever he had to say.

  
“I have to go to the bathroom, that sloppy joe is coming back with a vengeance!”

  
She stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh of exhaustion, “Fine, but if you aren’t back in 20 minutes I’m going to come and get you.”

  
“Thank you! Real lifesaver you are!” He praised her before getting up and exiting the room, making sure to hold his stomach.

  
He walked the halls of school without a care in the world. Wally knew the rules of detention if he skipped the whole thing he would just have to repeat the dreadful punishment the next day.

  
“Since when did they stop making it an hour?” He grumbled to himself, cursing the school administration for causing him such an annoyance.

  
He passed the library, then the cafeteria, he got to the first floor before he even looked at a clock. Shit, he lost track of time and it had already been well past 20 minutes! He raced down the hall. As his feet made tracks and his eyes gravitated to the windows that showed the parking lot. He skidded to a halt. He saw the idiot that caused him to be in detention in the first place yelling at some guy in the parking lot. His sudden need to be back in room 203 was gone and the need to be outside in that parking lot was what replaced it.

* * *

Hoagie was in the parking lot, ready to leave when he felt something jerk his car forward. His head almost making contact with the car's visor. Did someone hit him? Quickly, the teen exited the car and saw the other car in question. His left back taillight had been crushed, his bumper was slightly bent. He heard someone get out of the car.

  
“Hey man, you should really watch where you’re going.” Hoagie pointed out as he bent to the ground to get a better look and his pride and joy.

  
“My fault? You hit me!”

  
“But I was parked?” Hoagie did not hide his confusion about the statement.

  
“Are you for real? I was backing up and you just went ahead and hit me! You need to look in your review mirror man. It’s going to cost me big to get my tail light fixed!”

  
Hoagie could only stare at the other as he ranted and raved about his car. He was going to wait patiently for him to finish because what was the point in interrupting if he was just going to get yelled at either way? Well, that was before the guy called his car a hunk of junk.

  
“Patty is no hunk of junk, thank you very much! She might look old but I assure you she is no lemon!” Hoagie shot back, as he stood up to his full height again.

  
“Lemon? What the hell are you talking about man?” The male glared which caused the other to let out a sigh.

  
“I’m saying she runs fine even though she was built in the 80s.” He stated.

  
“Are you getting smart with me?”

He looked ready to fight the poor senior causing Hoagie to quickly let out his nervous, “No of course not!”

  
The male turned back around to look at his car again. Hoagie let out a sigh of relief before he noticed two of his classmates walking his way. It was Abby Lincoln and Kuki Sanban. Since when were those two friends?

  
“Thanks for giving me a ride home!” Kuki smiled as she lightly nudged Abby with her shoulder.

  
“Nah, Abby still owes you for helping out with the homework.”

  
“It was only one question though.” Kuki laughed before the two stopped to look at the incident that was blocking their path.

  
“Wow, is everything okay here?” Abby asked which caused the owner of the black four-door to yell at her.

  
She stared at him with a bored expression as he informed her, rather loudly, what had happened. Abby looked over to Hoagie who quickly shook his head back and forth, telling her that no, he did not back up into this jerks car.

  
“To settle this little argument how about we go see what the camera’s picked up. They should have caught sight of who bumped into who.” Abby, like her statement, was calm about the situation.

  
“That’s a fantastic idea!” Hoagie cheered, which caused the other to glare at the two girls and then to the male.

  
“Bullshit! Everyone knows that those cameras haven’t worked in years!”

  
“But they updated them over the summer so they have to be working.” He stated.

  
Things that Hoagie expected that day was sloppy joes for lunch, his English test, and the fact that his brother would bug him when he got home. What he did not expect, however, was some dude to grab him by the collar of his shirt so it would be easier to punch him in the face. He closed his eyes, ready for the pain that awaited him. He heard a scream and turned his head to see a rush of orange shove past both Abby and Kuki and come straight for the male that held him up. With one punch to the face, the guy fell to the ground.

  
Wally stood there, his breathing labored from the run to the parking lot and just the adrenaline in general. He looked over and saw Hoagie staring at him, a smile on his face.

  
“Wow, thanks, man!”

  
What? When did he get there? Before he could say anything he heard a familiar voice call to him.

  
“Wallabee Beetles!”

  
“Ah shit, here we go.” He grumbled before looking down at the guy he punched.

  
His foot gently kicked his leg, “Oi, get up and tell the teacher your fine before I get sent to detention again.”

  
He just let out a groan of pain. Wally rolled his eyes, what a freaking baby.

  
“He fell I swear!” Wally stated as the teacher finally got to where the group stood.

  
The once uncaring teacher looked like she was about to blow a gasket, and her voice backed this up as she screamed, “Everyone to the principal’s office, right this instant!”

  
“Fuckin’ perfect that’s what this is,” Wally grumbled as he walked passed the two girls and towards the school again.

* * *

The four sat inside the principal’s office. The principal, known to the students as Mr. Adams, was a man who seemed firm but fair when it came to his actions as the head of the school. He had crow’s feet and two wrinkle lines on his forehead. The guess of his age on increased when new students would see him walking down the halls with his cane, a slight limp in his step. His wrinkles said mid-40s but the cane indicated that he might be older than what his face let on.

  
He stared at them, he was explaining to them about how it was unacceptable school behavior for what happened. Wally could only guess since he was staring at the small trashcan beside the man’s desk. Did he really throw out half of his sloppy joe? Okay, it was decided, this man was a moron.

  
“Wally you know the rules when it comes to a situation like this.”

  
“But it wasn’t his fault he was just sticking up for me!” Hoagie stated, causing Kuki to add an excited “Yeah!”

  
“That may be, but we have a no-bullying policy here. Because of this, I’m sorry Wally but you’ll have to be suspended. It’s just for a couple of days so you can cool off.” He stated.

  
Wally didn’t catch his eyes, his stare was down casted to the floor. Suspended? That didn’t sound good. His parents were going to kill him! Or worse, send him to boarding school, they tried that once and he didn’t like it!

  
He could hear his classmates come to his aid. Man things were getting way too loud for him to focus on a way to convince his parents that he didn’t need to go to a boarding school. He let a defeated sigh before looking over to the group.

  
“Guys it’s whatever, don’t worry about it.” He told them, it’s not like he deserved, or needed their protection or anything.

  
“You say that but-,” Kuki began but stopped herself when she saw him stand up.

  
A small smirk crossed Abby’s lips as she looked back to the principal, “Hold on, Abby just got an idea.”

  
Wally stopped and looked over to her. Abby, unlike him, was smart. Did she know some loophole of the school system? Wally felt a small bubble of hope grow in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn’t have to be suspended which meant no boarding school! Wally felt himself almost jump for joy at the thought.

  
“How about instead of suspension he just comes in here on Saturday. That way he gets a full day of detention but it doesn’t ruin his valuable school time.” Her words caused Mr. Adams to place a hand on his chin.

  
That was way worse than boarding school! Wally thought as he grabbed hold of the chair to steady himself. His Saturday. His most prized day off. Abby you bitch.

  
“I think that will do. Wally, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow at 8 a.m. sharp!” Mr. Adams smiled at him.

  
“Wait, hold on,” He mumbled, trying to gain his barring’s once more, “you’re coming here? But what about a teacher, kind of weird for a principal to watch over a student for detention, yeah?”

  
“Please, I would be more than delighted to watch over you. I have nothing to do until 5 tomorrow anyways.” Mr. Adams paid no mind to Wally’s obvious discomfort over the situation, “Now Wally, please go get your belongings from room 203.”

  
Wally got to the door when he heard him call to the other group of teens, “Abby, you guys stay, I have something to discuss with you.”

Wally had picked up his belongings from the classroom. He stared at the pencil, he should have stabbed himself. Yep. That would be way better than going to school on a Saturday. Stuffing it into his book bag he decided it was time to head home. His parents probably got the call. Maybe he could hang out at the music shop until curfew?  
He got to where the principal’s office was held when he saw the three teens exit. All of them looked annoyed.

  
“Wow, thanks, Abby. I really wanted to be in school on a Saturday.” Hoagie grumbled as he glared at the girl.

  
“Oh, Abby knows that glares not directed at her.” She shot back. “Besides how was I supposed to know that he would lump us in as bystanders.”

  
“No way, you guys too?” Wally asked as he looked at the three.

  
“Us not doing anything warrants us to be responsible for not stopping it or something.” Hoagie stated his annoyance over the situation not lost to those around him.

  
“Well it’s obvious isn’t it?” Kuki spoke up from her spot beside Abby.

  
The group stared at her, as she placed her hands on her hips. Her usually happy face soured as she looked at the group, how dumb could they be?

  
“He’s an asshole.”

  
There was silence among the three before they all busted out laughing, much to Kuki’s confusion. There was something about such a happy, sweet girl to be letting out such an immoral description of someone.

  
Wally gave her a gentle slap on the shoulder as he calmed his laughter, “Well said!”

  
“Aw crap, is that the time?” Hoagie spoke as he looked at his watch.

  
“What’s wrong, got a date?” Abby teased.

  
“I wish, I have to go pick up my little brother.”

  
“Couldn’t he just take the bus?”

  
“Nah, he has afterschool activities like us. See you guys tomorrow then.” With a wave, Hoagie was off down the hall to the front doors.

  
He had a little brother too? Wally wondered how old he was. Maybe Joey knew him. Something clicked that caused dreed to creep into the pit of Wally’s stomach.

  
“Shit!” He yelled before running towards the doors, Abby calling after him, asking what he was doing.

  
“He’s not the only one who has to pick up his crappy brother!”

  
“Need a ride?” Abby asked as she ran beside him and out of the doors.

  
“If you are you should know I already called shotgun!” Kuki cheered as she appeared on the other side of him.

  
“Thanks but I already have a ride.” He stated as he got to the parking lot.

  
The girls, not seeing the harm, decided to continue to follow the guy who was in such a rush. They got to a parking spot the sported a dark green motorbike. He opened up the seat and placed his belongings inside before slamming it down. His hands went all over his person as he tried to find his keys. With a triumphant smile, he pulled out the key.

  
“Can you even have this on school property?” Abby asked as she eyed it.

  
“Never asked, but they haven’t said anything so I think I’m safe.” He stated as he placed his helmet on.

  
Wally twisted the keys, quickly starting the motorbike. Abby and Kuki waved him off as he peeled out of the school parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yes, hello! So to start I do have to apologize for this but I think this chapter is long compared to chapter 1. I just couldn't stop writing! Another thing, I'm afraid that chapters will not be as quick to update. Not that I'll be months later but like not days apart lol. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day :)

Chapter Two

_4:30 P.M. Gallagher Elementary School._

__

So what if Wally was a little late. Okay, so he was an hour late. Big deal, that wouldn’t matter. His brother would be on the newly added field used for soccer and other outdoor sports. Man, did Wally wish they had that when he went to the school. He parked his bike at the front of the school. He felt a sense of nostalgia as he walked the outside of the school to the field. A chuckle escaped him as he remembered the day he placed a piece of gum on some poor nerd that pissed him off that day.

He got to the field not long after and saw his brother sitting on the ground and staring up at the sky, soccer ball at his side. 

“Oi!” Wally called as he jumped the fence, not feeling the need to walk further to get to the gate.

His brother didn’t look away from the sky. He didn’t even look at him when Wally got close to him, he just rolled over. Oh man, he must be mad. Wally knew he wasn’t the best big brother, but he did feel guilty for making him upset. He let out a sigh before plopping down on the ground beside him.

“So,” he drawled before looking over to Joey, “How was school?”

“It was whatever.”

“Are you sure, you seem pretty mad.” Wally commented, making sure to emphasize ‘pretty.’

Joey didn’t say anything causing Wally to roll his eyes. Seriously what was this kid’s problem? A sly smile came to Wally’s face. He knew one way to cheer up the kid. He raised his hand over Joey’s body.

“Upset children get the claw!” He cheered before placing his hand onto Joey’s stomach, moving his fingers to tickle him.

This caused a reaction out of Joey, but not one of cheer. He jerked his body away and picked up his soccer ball.

“Knock it off!” he yelled at a shocked Wally.

“You usually love the claw,” Wally mumbled as he sat up to look at the angry 8-year-old.

“Let’s just go home.” Joey sighed as he twisted the ball in his hands.

A gust of wind blew his blond bangs up, giving Wally the opportunity to see his eyes. The gust of wind showed Wally just what was causing his younger brother’s sour mood. He had a purple pigmentation, a black eye. Wally might have been pissed that day, but what he felt at the moment was on another level.

“Jesus Joey, what the hell happened?” Wally asked as he scrambled over to where the other stood.

His hand went to his brother’s hair. He was careful as he pulled the blond hair away from his face. Joey didn’t stop him as he inspected the eye. It was slightly swollen, the bruise already made its home on his face.

“It hurt?”

“Not really.” Joey mumble as he looked away from his brother’s gaze.

“Whoever did this is dead,” Wally grumbled as he pulled his hand away from Joey’s face and to his shoulder.

“You can’t do that, he’s only 9.” Joey pointed out as he watched his brother rethink his plan.

“Right. You should do that!”

Joey stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes, “Violence isn’t always the answer you know. It’s best to just ignore them.”

“Oh yeah, that shiner is proof of that.” Wally commented, annoyed by his brother’s uncaring feelings towards the situation.

Wally stood up, making sure to dusk his pants to make sure no grass decided to stick to him. Joey placed the soccer ball onto his head and began to balance it as he followed Wally out of the field.

“You won’t tell mum and dad, will you?”

Wally stayed silent for a moment. Joey really hoped his brother was seriously thinking it over. He ran his right hand through his hair as a sign of defeat escaped him.

“I won’t, but you can’t tell them I was late picking you up.”

“Deal.”

“We should probably put some peas on that thing though.” Wally commented as he gave him the extra helmet that he kept in the compartment under his seat.

* * *

_7:00 P.M. Beetles Residence._

__

Wally picked at his food. His parents had yet to say anything to him about the phone call from the school. What were they waiting for? Make him feel safe as he ate his mash potatoes and then, BAM!, he’s grounded? No, that wasn’t part of their MO as parents. Wally had to see if they were planning something of the sort without making it obvious.

“So, uh, how was work Dad?” He asked taking a bite of his green beans.

“Oh, well you know just regular office work. Wait actually Marv had a birthday today and the cake was good. Shoot! I should have brought some home.” His father showed guilt over the fact he didn’t bring home some of his co-worker’s birthday cake.

“Not to worry honey, I was actually planning to make some cookies after dinner!” Mrs. Beetles smiled as she reached over and gave her husband’s hand a light squeeze.

“You really are the best, love!”

Well, Wally wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Oh Joey, dear, you should really pull those bangs of yours back. Let us see your blue eyes once in a while.” Mrs. Beetles smiled as she reached across the table to touch her son’s face.

Wally had to think of something fast.

“I got detention all day Saturday!” He stated causing both parents and little brother to stare at him.

Shit.

“You what!” Mrs. Beetles yelled, Joey’s hair all but forgotten now.

“Now, love, how about an explanation as to why he’s there. So son, what happened?” Sydney smiled, giving his son a chance to prove that the mother’s wrath was unwarranted.

Wally explained the situation to the best of his abilities. Not forgetting to add to the story that he only punched the guy for picking on Hoagie, when in fact he did not. But it would help his case if it seemed he was sticking up for someone else.

“Oh, so you were sticking up for your little friend, that’s nice! Right, dear?” Sydney smiled as he looked to his wife who had deflated.

“Even so, it isn’t right to go straight to violence. A simple conversation would have stopped the whole thing, right?”

“I think we shouldn’t scold him too much, he’s already going to learn his lesson all day on Saturday.”

“I guess.”

Wally made a mental note to thank his dad later for sticking up for him. He looked over when he heard the chair scrape against the floor. Joey was putting his plate up. He made it a show of how tired he was.

“Well, I think I’m going to go to sleep now, good night!” Joey yawned after placing his plate in the kitchen sink.

“Still got another hour before bedtime. You sure you don’t want to watch some cartoons or something?” Sydney asked as he watched his son walk towards the stairs.

“Nah, long day.”

With that Joey had escaped to his upstairs bedroom. Wally was not at the table much longer as he got done. His mother made him wash the dishes for further punishment. She didn’t like him getting into fights, who knew?

He got to his room, ready to open up his door when he heard a tiny “Oi,” from behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw Joey, arms crossed.

“’Sup squirt?”

“Thanks and junk.” Joey grumbled before turning around and going back to his room.

Wally stared at where his brother once stood. The two never had a big relationship due to their ages. Yeah, they were brothers but confiding in each other? Not their style.

“Yeah,” He sighed, relishing on a thought, “I’ma give him a noogie tomorrow morning.”

* * *

_8:01 A.M. Saturday. McClintock High School. Room 203._

__

Wally made his home at the back of the class by the window. The sun’s rays would feel great around noon, perfect time for a well-deserved nap. He looked at his bookbag, if it were up to him he wouldn’t have brought it but his mother told him that he better have all his homework for the next week done because, in her words, “You better make use of this time you have at school, or you’re grounded.”

  
  


Now Wally had to admit, he was not the smartest when it came to school so maybe he could use the time to actually get something done. He shivered, just the thought made him feel sick. His green eyes scanned the classroom. Abby and Kuki sat beside each other in the middle of the room, while Hoagie moved a few desks together to create a mega desk. How much work was he planning to do? Smart guys, he would never understand them. Mr. Adams sat at the front of the classroom, flipping through that morning’s paper.

Wally was doodling absentmindedly on the paper in front of him. The four used to be close when they were younger. They would play almost every day, but something happened. It was a small fight, Wally himself couldn’t even remember. Still, after that, they never talked to one another again. Now they were just strangers locked in a room together.

Morning soon turned to mid-day and just as Wally predicted that sun’s rays engulfed him in comforting warmth. Abby looked over from her spot and shook her head with a disapproving, “Mm-mn.”

She looked back over to Kuki who was drawing some concept art for a future art project. The girl was too deep in thought to have noticed Abby or anyone else in the room. Abby could hear the slight hum from her headphones. It sounded like a fun pop song. Either way, she felt pity for the girl’s eardrums. She was going to be deaf by 30 if she kept listening to music like that.

Hoagie was the opposite when it came to working. He wore no headphones, his brown eyes that were hidden from the yellow tent of his sunglasses, seemed to focus on the graph paper that took over four desks. He let out a curse as he began to erase something. She wished she had something to work on. It wasn’t that she was unmotivated, she just didn’t have anything that piqued her interest at the moment.

A loud ringtone caused the students, excluding Kuki, to look from their desks. Mr. Adam’s placed his phone to his ear, mumbling a hello. Abby took notice of the slight change in his features. He seemed worried about something.

“Everything okay?” She asked as Mr. Adams hung up his phone.

“Nothing you need to worry about. I have to go and fix a small problem, might be back in an hour. Until I return Abby you’ll be in charge of looking after them. And if I come back and something is even the slightest bit out of place you four will be here next Saturday.” He told her before grabbing his cane to help him up.

Abby gave him a mock salute, “Yes sir!”

Not even a minute passed before Wally got up. Abby rolled her eyes and asked where he thought he was going. His response? A simple shrug and a declaration that he was hungry. At the mention of food Hoagie set down his pencil.

“I’m in. I heard the vending machine just got a new flavor of chips.”

“Well, it would be irresponsible to leave students hungry.” Abby chuckled before giving Kuki’s shoulders a light tap.

“What!” She asked, her ability to hear the volume in which she spoke gone by the music playing in her ears.

Abby rolled her eyes and gently pulled one of the pink headphones away from her ear, “We’re going to go get something to eat, c’mon.”

“Oh cool.” She giggled, taking off her headphones and placing them on the desk. “I’ve been starving since, like, 10.”

The four walked the halls. There was a different air around the school on the weekends. No students or teachers littered the hall, no higher authority to tell them they couldn’t run in the halls. It was because of that that Wally began to run down the hall and towards the vending machine.

“Last one there has to pay!” He called causing Kuki and Hoagie to let out a groan.

“Not fair! You got a head start!” Kuki scolded as she raced after him.

“Hurry up or you’ll have to pay!” Hoagie called to Abby as he waved his arm to signal for her to follow.

She stared at him before putting her hands in her pants pockets, “Abby is not gonna run.”

Abby got to the vending machine. The three were picking out what they wanted. Kuki was pointing at a pack Rainbow Monkey Cookie Bites, “I want this one, I want this one!”

“I’m having the new bacon twisties!” Hoagie and Wally declared.

There was silence between the two before they both gave each other a smirk. The two cheered before giving each other a high-five.

“What if I got some of the cheddar cheese chips and we can split them.” Hoagie suggested.

“Dude, genius!” Wally cheered before looking over to Abby, “Well come on, pay up!”

Abby bought the group their snacks and drinks. She guessed that since she was put in charge of watching over them it must mean that her, an 18-year-old, would also be the baby sitter of other 18-year-olds.

Hoagie and Wally both clinked their soda cans together before chugging the drinks down and stuffing handfuls of chips into their mouths. Kuki laughed at the display, while Abby rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.

“So, uh, how long is Mr. Adams going to be?” Hoagie asked as he took a sip from his drink.

“Who knows.” Wally grumbled, his feet tapping the floor.

Abby looked up at the ceiling as she thought back to his face, “He seemed a little worried. Don’t know what was wrong, but it shook him up real good.”

“It was enough to make him leave. Man, I hope no one died.” Hoagie mumbled as he rested his head on the lockers.

“He’d be crying if that happened.”

“So not dead level serious, maybe someone broke an arm?”

While Hoagie and Abby theorized what could have made their principal leave, Kuki was trying to convince Wally to try some of her Rainbow Monkey snacks. He made a gagging motion, causing the teen to glare at him.

“Just try it!” She whined, shoving a cookie towards his mouth.

“Get that shit outta my face!” He snapped, swatting her hand away from him.

Abby let out a sigh, dropping her trash into the bin, “Can you two stop flirting? We have to go back to the room.”

“We’re not flirting!” Wally protested, a slight blush coming to his cheeks.

“Right.” She mused, not hiding her smirk.

“Wait, we weren’t?” Kuki asked, tilting her head to the side.

His head jerked back to look at her. His mouth felt dry and his heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest. For one of the first times in his life, Wally couldn’t think of a comeback. No retort. Nothing. He just stared at her, his mouth only producing gibberish as he tried to ask if she was being serious or not.

Her once pouting lips, twisted into a cat-like smile, “Just kidding!”

She gave his shoulder a friendly pat before she began to skip around him. Wally was, understandably, embarrassed and slightly pissed. He opened his mouth to protest but something sweet was shoved into it. The cookie was coated with melted marshmallows and sprinkles. Kuki looked at him, not holding back her giggle fit.

Wally chewed it, his glare not leaving his face. It actually didn’t taste that bad, but he refused to give the girl the satisfaction. He could still feel the heat still radiating off of his cheeks. When would that go away? He hoped soon because he felt like an idiot.

“So?” She asked, her cute and hopeful eyes making him more annoyed.

“Tastes like shit.” He stated, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Nuh-uh! You totally liked it!”

“Okay children,” Hoagie began, putting himself between the two, “let’s get back to class.”

Hoagie stayed between them as the group made their way to the classroom. It didn’t take long for Kuki to forget the small argument that she and Wally had. She talked to Abby about what she was going to be doing for her art project. Hoagie moved his eyes from the rambling teen to the other side of him. Was Wally still mad? He wasn’t there.

“Wally?” He called, turning his body to see the blond going towards the bathroom.

“Just going to the toilet.” Wally waved before kicking the door to the bathroom open.

Abby looked at the Hoagie and Kuki who stared at the bathrooms. “You two have to go too, don’t you?”

She rolled her eyes, waving her right hand. With the signal, the two ran towards their respected bathrooms. Abby decided that she might as well go now before she got back to class. It would just be a pain if she got back and leave the three once she had the urge to go. With her gone, they might destroy the classroom.

It wasn’t an eventful trip to the bathroom. Hoagie and Abby both had to hear their bathroom partners complain about each other though. That was slightly annoying. Both parties left through the doors to the hallway at the same time. Something seemed different. The hallway was dark, as if someone suddenly switched the sun off. Abby and Hoagie made eye contact. Her brow quirked, he shrugged, both confused at the lack of light.

“Hey, guys?” Kuki called as she found her way to the large windows of the school.

Abby made her way to where she stood, “What?”

“Was there supposed to be a solar eclipse or something?”

“No way, it is way to earlier for the next one.” Hoagie stated.

“But the moons in front of the sun and stuff.” Kuki pointed out, her eyes looking back up at the moon.

Wally and Hoagie made their way to the girls. Just like Kuki said the sky was dark, but a small sliver of light came from the sky. Hoagie looked at Kuki who was admiring the sight.

“How about we go get our stuff and head out to look at it,” Abby suggested causing Kuki to jump for joy.

“So fun, so fun!” She cheered as her and Wally walked back to the room.

“Jesus, could you cool it?” He asked.

Kuki paid no mind to him as she sang about the situation. Abby and Hoagie could hear the made-up melody as the other two walked further away from them.

“That small sliver of light was the moon wasn’t it.” She asked, arms crossing over her chest.

“Totally, luckily the way the waxy crescent came out tonight fooled her into thinking it was some type of solar eclipse.”

“Is there some type of astronomical phenomenon that could explain it going from noon tonight in the span of a bathroom break?” She asked her and Hoagie walked a slow pace towards the class.

“From my understanding, no.” He mumbled, looking down at her.

She looked troubled, Hoagie quickly, and quite nervously, added “But you never know! This could be something new!”

Abby let out a trouble hum as the two walked. Hoagie continued to ramble on what it could be but Abby was only half paying attention to him. How was she supposed to react to the situation? Calm and collected Abby left the building and all that remained was her becoming more anxious over the situation.

“It could even be-,” Hoagie couldn’t finish his thought as a loud scream was heard from room 203.

“That sounded like Kuki, let’s go!” Abby yelled, running towards the scream.

Abby could hear Hoagie right behind her. She skidded once she reached room 203, her hand reached out to grip the door frame. She saw Wally trying to hold Kuki back. His words sounded like he was trying to calm her but her stance did not change.

“He’s trying to steal my stuff, it’s a pretty good reason to get angry!” She yelled at the blonde who winced at the loud octave.

“So dude, are you stealing her stuff or not?” He called to the hooded figure.

When he didn’t get a response Wally glared. He walked over to where the figure stood. His left hand made contact with the persons hood, while the other snatched the purse from their hands. He tossed it to Kuki who easily caught it.

“Everything there?”

“Yep!”

“Cool,” He smirked, turning his attention back to the figure, “Now you better not be fucking rude this time when I ask you another question.”

Wally shoved the person away, causing them to twist around to face him. The hood fell from his face and the four teens could see who was robbing Kuki. His face was made of blue scales and his eyes yellow slits. He hissed at Wally, his snake-like tongue coming out. Wally, on instinct, swiftly gave him a punch to the face, knocking the robber down easily.

“Time to go!” Abby called, reaching out and grabbing hold of Kuki’s hand.

“Buy my stuff!” She spoke causing Hoagie to roll his eyes.

“For the love of- come on!” He reached down and threw her over his shoulder.

The four quickly left the classroom, much to Kuki’s protest.

Kuki glared down at the male, a hand gripping his shoulder, while the other pointed at the room, “My Rainbow Monkey notebooks in there!”

“I will buy you a new one!” Hoagie responded, equally annoyed by her.

“It cost 100 dollars.”

“Fuck’s sake- really Kuki!”

“It was a special edition!”

Abby looked to Wally, “And you, why in the hell, would you punch a monster?”

He shrugged before reaching the front doors, “I see something that pisses me off and I hit it.”

He waited for all three to leave before following them himself. Hoagie led the group of teens to his Station Wagon. He set the girl down before telling them to get inside. Did Hoagie know that aliens existed? Yes. Did he think that one would try and kill him one day? No. The worst he thought was being abducted and probed but for the most part, those people came back alive with their memories wiped!

“Maybe he left?” Kuki suggested.

Both her and Wally looked out her window that held a perfect view of the side door that led inside the school. Nothing. As the teens gained their breath back Hoagie started up the car. Maybe Kuki was right, he could have left. Or Wally knocked him out. Was Hoagie going to risk that? Nope.

His hand touched the gearshift, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up at the threat of something happening. Okay, he just needed to breathe, everything was going to be just fine. A loud thud from the roof of his car caught their attention and made Hoagie lose the hope of everything being fine. The dent showed that he was right between where Kuki and Wally sat.

Their breath stopped, waiting for the next thing to happen. All but Hoagie looked up at the roof, wondering what was going to happen next. His hand gripped the handle of the gearshift before putting it in drive. He wasn’t sure what emotion he was feeling more of, fear of being killed by this thing, or his anger that he messed with his car. He hit the gas, hoping the shift in gravity would throw him off.

He looked in his mirror, was he off? No. The jackass was still up there being not only ugly but annoying as he gripped the metal bars. He drove in zigzags in the parking lot as he exited. On the main road, he noticed that it was only him out there. He smirked, time to hit the gas and see what speed would actually get the guy off of his car. 50? Still there. 60? 70? At what speed and jerk of his car would get him off of it?

He got to 80 and a sharp turn that finally caused the grip of the creature to leave. He flew off and hit against a lamp post. From the review mirror, Hoagie saw him land on the ground, slack. A total knock out. It seemed, for at least a moment, they could gain their breath back.

“Turn here,” Abby spoke up.

Hoagie followed her orders, not finding the energy to question her. Several minutes later they arrived at a blue house. It was small and yard slightly unkempt. Once inside the garage, Abby got out and closed the garage door.

“This your house?” Hoagie asked as him and the rest got out of the car.

“Nah, my sister Cree rents it. Lucky for us she’s on a trip with her loser friends.” Abby stated.

She opened the door that led into the small laundry room. They followed her inside, through the kitchen and to the living room. Her body dropped onto the worn-out couch. Wally made himself comfortable on the lounge chair that had a better view of the television. Kuki and Hoagie stood nearest to the kitchen, watching the two make themselves at home. Hoagie opened his mouth to ask the long-awaited question on what in the ever living hell just happened when he felt the body beside him quickly drop to the ground.

“Oh, man Kuki are you okay?” He asked, bending down to take a look at her.

“That was really scary.” She laughed.

Even with her laugh, her lips quivered and her whole body shook. Tears pricked her eyes, her mind recalling the events. Hoagie gave her shoulder a squeeze before telling her that he would go get her some tissues. She looked up at the other two. Abby went to go get something from the kitchen, and Wally was staring at the TV, its screen black. Why was she the only one to have legs made of jelly? To have her whole body shake uncontrollably?

Abby crouched beside her. Kuki looked over and saw Abby holding up a cup of hot tea. The two didn’t say anything as she reached over to take it away. Hoagie came back from his adventure of finding the tissues and placed the box beside the traumatized girl.

“Why am I the only one like this? I mean, aren’t you guys scared?” She asked as she wiped her tears away with the tissue.

Abby’s elbows rested on her knees, her hands placed on either side of her cheeks to hold her head up. She tried to find the right words to reassure Kuki that they all felt the same way.

“Trauma’s different for everyone.” Hoagie spoke up from the other side of Kuki.

Abby gave a nod to his statement, “He’s right. You were just the first person to have it sink in.”

“Psh, I wasn’t scared,” Wally spoke from his place on the chair.

Abby rolled her eyes, “Oh that’s a bunch of bull.”

He snapped his head over to Abby, “Don’t tell me how I feel, okay?”

“Boy, I know you did not just raise your voice at me!”

Hoagie kept his hand on Kuki’s shoulder as he watched the two fight. Abby was now standing over Wally, her finger pointing at his face. It was the same small argument but with every sentence, it was worded differently. Abby was going to smack him if he didn’t stop his attitude. Wally would like to see her try. Hoagie found the whole thing stupid.

“Guys stop it! Tensions are high but this is not the time to fight, we almost got killed by some alien.” Hoagie told the two.

Abby gave a final glare at Wally before leaning against the side table. Her anger seemed to quickly leave her as she listened to Hoagies words. Her arms crossed over her chest before she spoke, “Plus the whole time change thing.”

“Time change? I thought it was that Solar thingy.” The blond asked, his anger dropping too.

Hoagie let out a sheepish smile as he explained, “Actually Kuki said it was a Solar Eclipse, I just never corrected her.”

“Well if it’s really night, what time is it?” Kuki asked, her voice scratchy from trying to hold herself back from crying.

“Clock says 1 in the morning,” Abby told her.

“What? I have to call Mushi, she’s totally freaking out right now!” Kuki cried as she got up to rush to the landline. Picking up the phone she began to quickly dial her phone number.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Abby questioned as she made her way to stand beside Kuki.

She paused, her finger inches away from pressing the final button, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I? My mom left for a business trip for the weekend and it’s my responsibly to look after her!”

“Well if you call her she’s going to want you to come home. There might be a chance that the alien is still on the streets looking for us. It’s best for us and your sister if we just lay low until morning.”

Kuki stood there for a moment. She let out a sigh. She knew Abby was right, but the anxious feeling that she held when it came to leaving her sister alone and without contact was going gnaw at her. She hung up the phone before she made her way back to where she sat on the floor.

“From what I can remember that thing was after something you had. So what’s in that purse of yours anyway?” Wally asked.

Kuki looked up to him. Her head tilted to the side as she began to think about it. She couldn’t think of anything that the alien would want. She grabbed her purse. It was a pink silhouette of a cat’s head, she got it when she was 16 and yes she still thought it was cute as ever. She dumped the containments out. Lip balm, floral wallet, a few receipts, blush, hand lotion, three different shades of lip gloss, and a necklace that held a small plum blossom trapped inside amber. 

“I’m not seeing anything that screams out, ‘Here Alien steal me.’” Kuki stated as she touched over the lip glosses.

“Cool stone, though.” Hoagie smiled, picking up the necklace to take a better look at the fossilized flower.

“Thanks! My dad got it for me while visiting Osaka for business.” Kuki explained before reaching over to take the amber from his hand.

She raised the amber up to the light. She always liked looking at the flower within the stone. It was as if it was engulfed by something warm and lovely.

“He could have been looking for your phone,” Wally suggested.

The three looked over to where he said. He noticed their slight confusion over his statement. He let out an annoyed sigh, “I’m just saying if I was an alien and you accidentally took a picture of me I’d want to find your phone and destroy it.”

“Kid has a point.” Abby conferred as she absentmindedly picked up one of the receipts.

Hoagie leaned over to get a better look at Kuki who went back to staring at the amber. “Where’s your phone now?”

Kuki’s hand went back to her lap to rest as a bashful smile came to her face, “Actually my mom grounded me after she found out I was coming to detention on a Saturday. I think she might have brought it with her. She’s not that great at hiding things.”

“So the phones probably off which explains why he was frantically searching your things,” Hoagie mumbled as he tried to figure out how the time was manipulated around them.

The four stayed in silence before Abby grabbed the empty teacup in front of Kuki and went into the kitchen. They heard the water running. The slight hint of something normal such as cleaning seemed to calm them for at least a moment. The sound of Abby moving pots and pans was heard. Was she starting the oven? They decided to give her some space as the minutes passed. It was around 1:30 when Kuki let out a yawn. Hoagie looked over and saw her head dipping down slightly.

“Hey, Kuki?” He whispered as he gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

She didn’t reply. Her body fell against his shoulder. He let out a smile. He was glad that she was able to fall asleep since only not even half an hour ago she was having a panic attack. He gently scooped her up in his arms before poking his head inside the kitchen.

His voice was low as he called to Abby, “Kuki fell asleep. Is there a room for her to stay in?”

Abby sat on the floor next to the stove. She was eating a small bag of chips as something was baking in the oven. She blinked away her mile-long stare before looking up at him. She mumbled out a reply before standing up.

“Cree’s guest bedroom is this way.” She whispered to him.

He followed her to a small bedroom with only a double bed in it. Well, that and a small dresser with a mirror hanging beside it. He gently set her down before pulling the covers over her. The two left the room, Abby being careful as she closed the door.

“So what’s baking?” He asked as he followed her back to the kitchen.

“Chocolate chip cookies.”

“Sweet!” He cheered.

Abby turned around, “Zip your lid. Do you want Kuki to wake up?”

“Oh sorry,” he mumbled before whispering out a more excited, “Yay!”

The passed by Wally who had dozed off in the lounge chair. He let a small snore showing them that he was far past waking up by a simple conversation. Hoagie told Abby that while she checked on the cookies he would make sure his car was okay. He already knew the answer though. His car was damaged but luckily it was an easy repair.

He tapped his fingers against the top of the station wagon as he began to map out just what he was going to do. His right hand went over the dip of the dent. His brown eyes took notice of two identical dents on the metal bars at the top of his car. With a quirked brow, he leaned close to get a better look. He let out a curse as he identified that it was from the alien’s grip on them. How strong was this guy?

Hoagie was to focused on the car to notice Abby walk into the garage, two cookies in hand. She gave him a small nudge. He finally took his eye off the car and looked down at her.

She lifted up one of the cookies to him, “Here.”

“Thanks.” He mumbled, graciously taking the treat from her.

She looked from the car and to him. He still kept his eyes trained on his car as he ate the cookie. Abby took a bite from her cookie. Kuki was the only one to come to terms with what had happened. Wally was in denial, and Hoagie was focusing on his car. Abby didn’t know if he was trying not to think too hard about what had happened, or if he already went through the stages of the trauma and got to the point of just accepting it.

Abby herself felt numb to the situation. She knew it happened, and that she was scared for her life, but at the moment she felt nothing over the situation. Something nudged her shoulder. She looked up to see Hoagie giving her a smile.

“Great cookies.”

“You can thank Pillsbury for that.”

The two stayed in silence for a moment before Abby spoke up again. “You know how in those abduction stories they count for lost time. What if we were displaced somehow? Can someone put us on pause?”

“For our current technology no, but I wouldn’t be shocked by an alien having that type of gadget. Like, maybe they beamed something at the school to freeze everything inside.”

“At this point, I’ll believe anything.”

“Well, it seems to be our best bet. This way we won’t have to wrack our brains trying to figure out how they did it.”

The two stayed out in the garage for another ten minutes before they walked back inside the house. Hoagie ate more of the cookies while Abby made herself comfortable at the table, slowly sipping at her hot tea. She gave some to Kuki to calm her down, maybe this would make her want to sleep too.

“Hey,” Abby started as she watched Hoagie finish the last of his milk, “what were you working on in class today?”

“Oh, that! Well, some local parents are paying me to build a structurally sound treehouse for the neighborhood.”

“Who knew a treehouse would make you look so intense.” She snickered.

“I’ll have you know I take my job very seriously.” He stated, not only his voice showing his offense but his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned closer to her.

“You got a milk mustache there Mr. Serious.” She mused as she offered him one of the napkins from the table.

He mumbled out a comment before wiping away the residue from the milk. Abby couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t hold his halfhearted glare for long before busting out laughing himself. After the laughing fit the two held, Hoagie let out a yawn.

“If you’re tired you can have the couch.” Abby offered the teen who let out another yawn.

“What about you?”

“In a bit. Still have to finish this.” She stated before raising up her cup of tea.

“Cool. Night Abbs.” He gave her a wave before making his way to the couch.

She gave him a lazy wave back. “Night.”

Abby didn’t feel like sleeping. What if the alien came back? Someone needed to stay awake to be able to warn the others. She began to read the forgotten magazine that was left on the table by her sister. A sigh escaped her as she realized that it was going to be a long way until morning. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: Hey everyone, I'm hoping to release chapters every Wednesday. Well, besides today because I was a little late with revising the chapter. I hope you liked it! And have a wonderful day :)

Chapter 3

_ 9:45 A.M. Cree’s Residence. _

Kuki rustled in the covers. Her sleep was leaving her and she, for one, did not want it to. She let out a grumble as she rolled over onto her side, snuggling deeper into the covers. Would Mushi be mad at her if she skipped making breakfast? Ah, she’d have to walk her to the diner if not. Mushi could get very persnickety if she did not have her morning pancakes. Did Kuki want to deal with that?

“Good morning Mr. Cuddles!” She smiled, ready to greet her pet only to open her eyes and see that she wasn’t in her bedroom.

Right. Last night’s events came to her and Kuki’s energy went right back down to zero. She forced herself to get out of the rather comfortable bed. She got a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Whoa, major bedhead. She did her best to fix it, giving herself a small pep talk.

“Okay! Kuki are you ready for today! No? Well, get to it girl! Are you going to let some dumb stupid alien get the best of you?” She asked herself.

Her once fierce expression left her. Her forehead touched the mirror. Her lips went down into a frown as she showed her defeat. “Yes.”

“Well get over it!” She snapped, harshly poking the mirror with her index finger.

She gave herself a salute, “Yes ma’am!”

The teen left the guest bedroom and made her way to the living room. She was ready to take on the day! Hopeful her classmates felt the same. She stepped into the living room. Wally was passed out on the floor. He must have fallen from the chair sometime in the night. Hoagie was on the couch, letting out a moderate snore before turning to face the cushions of the couch.

She made sure to be as silent as a mouse as she made her way to the kitchen. Abby’s head was on the table. A small pool of drool was over a section of the magazine she was looking at. Kuki took off her green cardigan and gently put it over the other girl’s body. The house had a slight chill from the drop in temperature outside. She remembered her mother warning her about the cold front coming in and to make sure Mushi stayed bundled up.

She took the empty mug and brought it over to the sink. She washed it and once done it was placed onto the drying rack. What could she do while everyone else slept? A grumble came from her stomach and she let out a smile. Nothing could beat a good breakfast! Plus, it would take her mind off of yesterday’s events.

The fridge only held eggs, butter, and some milk. Okay, that’s fine! Did she want to make her famous Teddy Bear faced pancakes? Yes, but this was good too. Kuki’s eyes spotted some bread next to the toaster. Now it was coming into a more balanced meal!

She got to pouring the eggs into the pan when she heard an annoyed sigh from the living room. Well, Wally was up.

“Do you have to be so cheery in the morning?” He yawned as he passed by her and to the fridge.

She stared at him, confused as to why he was so crabby, “I’m just making breakfast.”

“Your humming woke me up.” He mumbled, taking the milk carton from the fridge.

“I was humming?”

His lips were about to make contact with the container but were stopped by Kuki shoving a cup into his face. He rolled his eyes, annoyed at the silent command. Still, he followed and made himself a glass.

He leaned against the counter beside the stove. “Yep, but it’s better than you crying.”

“Oh, Wally! Saying something nice to a pretty girl. So charming!” Kuki giggled as she moved the eggs around with the spatula.

She could see him choke on his milk. She laughed as she saw a bit of the liquid fall from his lips. He quickly wiped it away, his cheeks dusted pink.

“That’s not what I-,” he began, ready to defend himself. Her amused smile made him stop and quickly groan out. “Oh, will you can it!”

“I didn’t say anything.” She hummed, turning off the stove as she did so.

Kuki gave his shoulder a pat before leaving to go wake up Hoagie. He got up, grumbling about how he slept on his back wrong. The two came back to the kitchen to see Wally already making himself a plate.

“What time is?” Abby mumbled from her spot at the table.

“Just hit 10!” Kuki smiled.

“Kuki made eggs and toast, want some?” Hoagie asked as he made his own plate.

“Yeah.” Abby nodded before she looked at the cardigan around her. “I’ll go turn on the heater.”

She gave Kuki her piece of the clothing back, a smile of thanks on her face. The sound of the heater was the only thing to be heard in the house as they all sat down and ate their breakfast in silence. It was comforting in a way.

“We should exchange phone numbers.” Abby finally spoke.

Hoagie swallowed his final piece of toast. “Yeah. If something else happens we should be able to call each other.”

“Kuki, you can give us both your home and cell phone number,” Abby told her. Kuki gave her a nod.

It was decided that Hoagie would get to the school early and go inside to get their things. He’d come back out and put them in his car for them to pick up once they got to the school. The teens said goodbye to Cree’s house before getting into the station wagon. The feeling of dread and anxiety seemed to be nonexistent as they left the garage and into daylight. People were outside. Kids were playing and people were walking their dogs. No alien would attack them right now. They were safe.

Kuki was the second to be dropped off by Hoagie. She hoped Mushi wasn’t too mad at her. Taking a deep breath she entered her house. She was the big sister! She could do this!

“Mushi!” She called into her home.

She got to the living room. Mushi sat watching a cartoon, eating a bowl of Rainbow Monkey cereal. She felt like crying again as she imagined what it was like for Mushi last night. Not knowing when her sister would be back, it must have been awful.

“Mushi, I’m so sorry!” She cried, wrapping her arms around her sister.

Mushi swallowed, “What are you sorry about?”

“I didn’t come home last night and-,” before she could finish Mushi gently pushed her away.

“Well yeah, I mean your friend got put in the hospital. How’s he doing by the way?”

Her sister’s words confused her. What did she mean hospital?

“You sounded so freak out yesterday that I almost thought about going there myself.”

Hold on. Kuki felt more concerned now. Who was calling her sister pretending to be her?

“What time?”

Mushi stared at her, confused by her sister’s question. Kuki placed both hands on either side of her shoulders. Her eyes were serious now as were her words, “What time, Mushi.”

“Around noon.”

Kuki’s stomach fell. She felt so scared yesterday. Now, however, she was mixed with anxiety and intense rage.

“Mushi you are not allowed outside of the house until I get back, you understand.” Her tone was so serious that it made Mushi freeze.

Kuki repeated if Mushi understood. She could only let out a small okay. She was never used to seeing her sister so serious but when she was it always put Mushi in her place. Kuki quickly left the house once again.

* * *

_ 11:00 A.M. Beetles Residence _

__

Wally got to his bedroom ready to go back to sleep. Unlike the rest of them, he felt no need to tell his parents. Date night was on Saturdays and if they got home and didn’t see him they’d just look into his pitch-black room and assume he went to bed. Joey didn’t ask questions when it came to where his brother went.

He walked into his room, tripping over something. He caught himself before turning around to glare at whatever got in his way. It was one of his dumbbells.

“Who’s been in my room!” He shouted, not caring who answered him.

“No one, freak,” Joey shouted from his room.

Joey had a point. It’s not like he could move the dumbbell. His parents had no reason to be in there, and if they did go into his room they’d see him not there and then call him or the police. He picked up the dumbbell and put it in its rightful place on the rack with the others. He turned back to investigate the rest of his bedroom. If one thing was out of place that meant that someone was in there, right? Bed, still messy and unmade. He noticed something poking out from under his bed.

Now Wally knew his room was messy but he had a skill that made him know where everything was, even if it didn’t look it. He got to his knees to get a better look at what it was. An old shoebox? A thin coat of dust covered the outside of it. Box now in hand he stood up, turned on his light and sat on his bed for a better look. The light from the overhead fan helped him see fingerprints on the edge. Whoever was in his bedroom snooping about had opened it up.

He opened it and was not surprised to see that it was just filled with old junk. There was a baseball, a broken slingshot, and some folded pieces of paper. With a quirked brow, he placed the box beside him and opened the papers up to their full size. They were all drawings of Kuki from when he was little. He could only remember pieces of their childhood adventures but the small, okay huge, crush he had on Kuki seemed more prominent in his mind now. How could he forget about it? Man, he was getting a migraine.

The sound of the doorbell caused the blond to quickly shove the papers back into the box. He heard Joey call for him and with a flick of his wrist, he tossed it back under his bed to collect more dust. He got to the door and saw Joey just staring at whoever was at the door.

“Who is it?” He asked, now behind his younger brother.

“A girl. You guys dating?”

Wally’s only response was to tell his brother to shut up and shove him to the side so he could get closer to the door. It was Kuki. Her hands were on her knees as she tried to regain her breath. He felt his palms start to sweat and his face become heated. Her name came out of his mouth in such a croaky way that he quickly coughed to cover up the mishap.

“Kuki, hey, what’s up?” He asked, his voice now back to normal. He gave himself a mental high five.

Her words came out every other breath. “Something happened.”

He walked out onto the front porch and closed the door to give them a bit more privacy. “What happened?”

Kuki was able to gain control of her breathing, “So I got home, right? Just as I was about to tell Mushi that I was sorry I was late guess what she told me?” She did not give him a chance to respond. “She told me that I called her around noon yesterday saying that I was going to be staying at the hospital with a friend.”

“Did you check your room?”

“No. I ran out of my house as soon as she told me. What, why? Did someone go in your room?”

“I think so. Some of my stuff was moved around.” He told her before something came to mind. “Hold on for a sec.”

She watched him walk back inside. It only took him about a minute before he came back out, his orange jacket in hand.

“Apparently I called them at the same time. Said I made a friend at detention and was going to stay the night at their house.”

“So I’m assuming that means that the same thing happened to Hoagie and Abby.”

“Most likely. We should check your house and see if that damned alien decided to mess up your room too.”

The door to his house opened and he could hear his father call him. “Is that friend you spent the night with last night?”

Wally was not a fan of his suggestive tone. Before he could show his protests his father wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders to pull him close. They had their backs towards Kuki who looked at them quizzically.

“Now son, I should probably give you that talk about the birds and the bees, yeah?” He whispered causing Wally to immediately pull back.

He grabbed Kuki’s hand, quickly pulling her with him, “Kuki, we’re leaving.”

“Come on Wally there’s no need to be shy, it’s a natural thing!” Sydney called to him.

He grumbled his annoyance of his family’s embarrassing antics for about a block before Kuki spoke up, “Wally, you can let go of my hand now.”

He quickly let go of her hand and brought it to his side. His cheeks were red as he sputtered out an apology. They stood there a second as he tried to regain his composure.

He coughed. “So, uh, your house.”

She gave him a smile as she passed him. She led the rest of the way to her house. Once there and inside Kuki made sure that Mushi was still where she was when she left. Indeed, Mushi was in front of the TV watching a movie. The two sisters made eye contact before Kuki gave her a wave and a friendly, “I’m back!”

“You aren’t allowed to have boys over.” She called to her sister who was leading Wally up to her bedroom.

“You aren’t allowed to have food in the living room so I guess we can both break the rules for today!” Kuki shot back.

“You guys better not be doing anything! We just learned about this in health class.”

What Mushi said caused Wally’s grip on the stair’s railing tightened, if he had super strength it would have been destroyed. Kuki ignored her sister as she kept walking up the stairs, leaving a flustered Wally behind.

“Stupid pictures makin’ me act all dumb and shit.” He grumbled, climbing the stairs once again.

He got to the top and saw Kuki standing in front of her door. She kept staring at it even when Wally got to her side. He leaned past her and opened the door himself. He went inside the room first. Her bedroom was very her, cute and girly. What was shocking to him was how neat it was. If the alien came to his house wouldn’t it go to hers? He felt her shove him aside before running to something that was hidden by her armoire.

“Mr. Cuddles!”

“Who’s Mr. Cuddles?” He asked, his eyes scanning over family photos that were hung on the wall.

He could hear metal clinking open before Kuki’s energetic voice stated. “My pet.”

She called him once again before a delighted giggle came from her. His eyes left the pictures and looked over to her. She was holding something that seemed like it wanted to be let down. He got to her side, wanting to see the tiny thing she was holding.

“This is my new friend Wally, so you better be nice!” She warned her furry friend.

Her hands opened up to reveal a gray chinchilla. It looked up to Wally. It was as if the rodent’s biddy black eyes were staring into his soul. He felt as if it was deciding if Wally was worthy of being Kuki’s friend. It blinked before scurrying up Kuki’s arm and onto her shoulder. She let out a giggle before his head poked out of her hair to get a better angle on the boy.

“Nothing seems out of the ordinary.” She stated, walking around her bedroom, chinchilla still on her shoulder.

Wally let out a groan, falling down onto Kuki’s pink bed. “Then why did the thing just go to my house?”

“Maybe your rooms just messy.” She teased.

Wally didn’t say anything. She was right after all it always looked like a tornado came through. Still, Wally always knew where his things were and when they went missing. Was he just being paranoid from last night’s events? Then what about the phone calls? Why was this whole thing so confusing! Wally closed his eyes and slammed his fist against the bed.

Kuki’s voice came to him, but it was gruff as if she was imitating an old man, “There, there young boy! Would you like some candy?”

He opened his eyes, ready to ask her what she was doing. There, about an inch away from his face was a red Rainbow Monkey. It had a sewn-on gray beard showing that this was some grandfather of one of the stuffed toys. Something plopped onto his chest making him sit up to get a look at it. A caramel candy fell into his lap.

Green eyes looked back to Kuki who held the red stuffed animal in front of her face.

“Eat that candy and you’ll feel all better! Yessiree you will!”

She pulled it away from her face. Her smile seemed to calm him down. It was shocking to Wally himself that some girl’s dumb smile could calm him down. He refused to believe that and put the candy in his mouth before grumbling something that he himself couldn’t understand. Great, now he was embarrassed again.

  
  


“How can you do that? Act all cheery even when you came running over to my house all scared and shit.”

She tilted her head to the side, playing with the arms of her stuffed monkey. “Well, I was worried that something might have happened to you guys. But for some reason when I’m with you I can calm down. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Well try.”

“It’s like when I see you get all angry it makes me not as worried. Like something inside me says, “Okay! Now that he’s freaking out I can remain calm and try and figure something out since he can be pissed for the both of us!” That make sense?” She stopped playing with the arms and looked to him. “But at the same time, I want to calm you down. Weird, right?”

He stared at her, ignoring the blush coming to his cheeks, “Yeah. That is weird.”

Kuki’s mood dampened until he spoke again, her head perking back up to stare at him. “Still, you won’t have to feel scared ‘cuz I’ll always be pissed at whatever’s scaring you.”

She stared at him. He didn’t seem to notice how his statement could be seen as an embarrassing confession. She couldn’t keep the smile that fought its way onto her face away. He looked confused at her sudden smile at his simple statement.

She beamed at him. “Oh, Wally!”

Mr. Cuddles jumped off of her shoulder as she threw her arms around the confused teenager. He called to her to stop but it was too late. The weight of her body caused the two to fall off the bed. Wally took the brunt of the fall. He groaned in pain as Kuki could only let out giggles. Did her giggling near his ear cause his heart to race? Yes. Was her happy giggling enough to make him not yell at her? Also yes.

He could only grumble annoyance, “Stupid, now my back hurts.”

She apologized after her fits of laughter. Her laughter was mixed with the sound of his cell phone ringing. Taking his hand from around her body he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his blue jeans. It was Hoagie.

“Did someone weirdo call your house, too?” He asked.

Kuki could hear the males voice from the phone, “Yeah. Called Abby and she’s suggesting we meet up at the local park. You want me to come pick you up?”

“Nah, we’re close.”

“We?” Hoagie laughed, “Wally you dog.”

Wally didn’t give him a response before hanging up. His eyes didn’t leave the ceiling fan that had stars glued onto the blades.

Kuki scrambled off of him and went over to her wardrobe. “If we’re going to the park I have to take a shower.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really! I haven’t showered since yesterday and I probably smell!” Kuki brought out a plaid white and green long sleeve.

“Well hurry it up!” Wally called to her as she ran out of the bedroom.

He sat up. Did he smell? Lifting his arm up he lifted his arm to take a whiff. He smelled like yesterday’s deodorant with a light musk. He should be fine until he got home later.

Kuki and Wally got to the park twenty minutes later. It took them another ten to find where Hoagie and Abby were. They sat at a bench that was on the side of the walking path that went around the park. The place was a good place to talk. Far enough away from people, but close enough to know that people were there. It seemed everyone felt a sense of relief knowing that people were actually around them.

Abby looked up from her phone. “Took you guys long enough.”

“Flyboy here didn’t exactly give me the best direction,” Wally stated as he sat down beside Hoagie.

“I told you it’s the table that’s near the water fountain that has the star sticker.”

Kuki placed her purse on the table before pulling out a piece of gum. “To be fair there is, like, a gazillion of them in the park.”

“Let’s not argue over something as dumb as directions.” Abby sighed. “There’s an alien who just so happens to be able to imitate our voices. But why would he want to?”

Hoagie placed his chin in the palm of his hand. “Yeah, it makes zero sense. He tried to steal Kuki’s phone and then he was so kind enough to call our parents to give us an alibi? Something seems off.”

“Hey,” Kuki began, “Did he go into your house? Like in your bedroom to find something?”

“Nah, my room was fine.” Hoagie stated.

Abby raised her hand in agreement. “Same here.”

Hoagie got to his feet, hands slamming on the wooden surface. “Wait, was that guy in your house?”

“No. Wally’s.”

“Now why in the hell would he be at his house when he went after your phone?” Abby asked.

Hoagie sat back down before pointing to Abby. “This is what I’m saying when I say it makes no sense!”

“Do you know what he took?” Abby asked as she looked to Wally who looked bored.

He sighed. “I had this old shoebox filled with crap I haven’t seen in years. I think it was something from there.”

The four stayed silent. Each tried to come up with a reason or the game plan the alien held.

Kuki was the first to speak, “What if they aren’t related at all?”

“What are you talking about, the sequence of events is too coincidental for it not to be related,” Abby noted.

Kuki faltered before she looked at the picknick table. “Your right, it was silly.”

“Kuki, that’s not what I meant.” Abby apologized, placing her hand on the other teen’s shoulder.

Kuki’s once sullen expression left to one of optimism. “That’s okay! But what about this idea. How about we trap him?”

“Trap him?” Abby echoed.

“Yep! We lure him out, me as bait of course, and then when he comes to attack BAM! You guys come in and help me take him down!” She smiled.

Wally raised a brow, “So you want to make yourself bait?”

She nodded excitedly as if she was not terrified for her life yesterday. Abby took her hand away from Kuki’s shoulder and looked at the two males who began to think it over.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Hoagie smiled.

“Oh, hell no!” Wally protested. “Have you seen her? She won’t be able to take that jackass.”

Kuki rolled her eyes. “I might not be good at fighting Wally but that’s what the ammonia is for!”

Everyone stayed silent as they stared at her. Wally was the one who decided to ask. “The hell’s she talking about?”

“Okay, okay!” She giggled, excited to share her little story. “So last year we were having a problem with snakes coming into our garden so my mom was like, “We’ll just soak some rags in ammonia and put them in opened bags and put them throughout the yard to keep the snakes away.” And I was like, “But mom, what if the snakes just want to be our friends? What if they’re hungry?” I mean our tomatoes that year were super good! And you know what she told me? She said, “Oh, well, Kuki dear, snakes can be very dangerous.” So I told her, “What do you mean snakes are dangerous? Snakes are cute and cute things can’t be mean! That’s, like, the law of nature!’”

The three stared at her as she rambled. Hoagie raised his hand, “So what you’re saying is that you’re just going to soak some rags in ammonia and throw it at him?”

“No,” Kuki said with an irritated sigh. “I’m going to get ammonia and put it in a perfume bottle and take it out of my purse to spray him in the face. That would confuse him, and now his nose is compromised so he can’t know where he’s going.”

“Yeah, Hoagie. Think a little.” Abby teased before she received a sarcastic laugh from the teen.

The four decided that Kuki’s plan was the only chance they had at trying to figure out what the alien wanted. They would come back to the park around 12 that night and Kuki would just walk around until something happened. Now, it wasn’t a good plan, but it was the only one they had.

* * *

_ 7:15 P.M. Sanban Residence. _

Kuki sat at her vanity. She wore a doctor’s mask to make sure to not inhale the chemicals and latex gloves because the smell was firstly, strong and gross, and the second was because she has a fear that she might get sick if she touched something that accidentally made contact with the chemical without her knowledge. She finished putting the ammonia in her used perfume bottle.

  
  


Now it was time for her to change into some new clothes. She had changed into her pajamas once she got home as she finally got a well-deserved rest. She woke up at 6 to Mushi yelling at her to wake up because she had ordered pizza. She looked up at the clock, 7:15. Should she go back to sleep? What about Mushi? She totally forgot about her sister!

She got up, taking off her gloves and mask before throwing them in the trash can next to her desk. She knew Wally had a younger brother. What would he do? She got her purse and fished out the folded piece of paper that held all the phone numbers to her friends. Her eyes looked over to Mr. Cuddles who was running on his treadmill.

“Should I call him? It’s not too late is it?” She asked her pet who stopped his running to look at her.

“I’ll call him and then I’ll be back to play, okay?” She smiled before running out of her bedroom.

She had to stop herself. If she looked too excited Mushi would ask what she was doing and then become nosey. With a calm breath, she got to the bottom of the stairs before she, as calm as possible, went to the phone. Good, Mushi still kept her eyes on the TV. Her index finger quickly put his number into the cordless phone as she walked back up to her room.

His father picked up the phone, his cheery tone giving him away, “Wally’s phone, his handsome father speaking!”

“Hey! This is Kuki, may I talk to Wally?”

“Oh! Wally’s little girlfriend!” He laughed. Kuki didn’t correct him. “Wally your girlfriend’s on the phone!”

She could hear Wally yell at his dad that she was not his girlfriend.

“What?” He sounded annoyed.

“Nothing just wanted to hear your voice.” She laughed. His silence caused her to laugh more. “I’m kidding! Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” He grumbled.

“I’m just,” she began before her voice became a whisper, “Is there anyone listening in to us?”

“No. Dad’s now telling mom that you’re my girlfriend, so thank you for that.” Kuki noted that he did not sound thankful.

“It’s about Mushi. My mom’s still out of town and I don’t know how I feel about leaving her here all alone. What would you do? What if your parents were out of town and you were looking after your brother?”

“Hold on.” He told her.

She heard him walking up the stairs and then a door close. He probably went to his room just in case his family did happen to decide to eavesdrop.

“That’s a tough question. Look, if you don’t want to do this anymore you don’t have to.”

“No. That wasn’t the answer I wanted. What would  _ you _ do, Wally? Would you go to try and get this snake-guy, or would you look after your brother?”

He didn’t answer.

“Wally.”

He snapped at her. “Shut up, I’m thinking.”

She laid herself down on her bed. Silent until he answered her. He let out an exhausted sigh. “No. I wouldn’t go. There’d be too much of a chance that something would go wrong and he’d come to my house.”

“Yeah.”

“You want me to call the other’s to tell them it’s off?”

“No. I’ll-.”

Kuki’s doorbell rang. She told Wally to hold on before she ran downstairs. Mushi had yet to move from her spot as she cheered on the fictional character. Kuki rolled her eyes, she could act so childish at times. She used her free hand to open the door. To her surprise, it was her principal, Mr. Adams. He held her school bag, her rolled-up rough draft popping out of the top.

“When I came back you and your friends had left your belongings. It was quite a shock, really.”

Kuki quickly apologized, “I am so sorry! Do we have to repeat it? What about Wally will he still be suspended?”

“It’s okay, Kuki.” He reassured. “After hearing the circumstances as to why you all left I’ll be giving you four a pardon on leaving detention.”

Kuki quickly wrapped her arms around Mr. Adams in a bone-crushing hug. “Oh thank you. Thank you! Thank you!”

He was frozen in her hug. He coughed causing Kuki to realize just what she was doing. She pulled away and took a step back. She gave him a sheepish smile before apologizing. A gust of wind from the outdoors came into the house. A sharp chill went up Kuki’s spine, she completely forgot the drop in temperature that night.

“How rude of me! Come in! It must be below 50 degrees outside!” She commented as she waved him inside.

He walked into the foyer as Kuki closed the door. “Your mother called me yesterday telling me about how you four went to the hospital when you found out your friend got hit by a car. I am truly sorry to hear that, is his condition any better? Last I heard he was in a coma.”

“Yes. The doctors don’t know when he’ll wake up.” She lied.

“Good thing I’m here. I’ll be looking after your sister while you go and watch over your friend. His parents are in Paris and won’t be able to be back until Monday morning, correct?” He told her placing her bag down onto her dad’s old leather chair.

She gave him a quick “Mm-hm!” as her response as she heard Wally calling her name from the phone. Mr. Adams began to explain the situation to Mushi while Kuki disappeared into the dining room.

“Hear that Wally? I think I’ll be able to go through with the plan!” Her whispered excitement was cut short by Wally’s annoyed tone.

“Are you kidding me, Kuki? Snakes can shed their skin. What if this alien has some type of mutant power where he sheds his skin and becomes someone else? Mr. Adams could be him.” He warned.

“Wally, who knew you were so smart.” She beamed.

“Not smart,” he corrected, “I just watch a lot of TV.”

She peaked her head out to get a better look at Mr. Adams before she let out a sigh of annoyance. “Gah, learn how to take a compliment.”

“I have a plan.” She whispered to him as she watched her principal sit beside Mushi. “I’ll call you later.”

“Kuki, wai-!”

She hung up on him before he could finish and placed the wireless phone onto the receiver. She called to Mr. Adams. She was able to convince him to come up to her room because she needed help with cleaning Mr. Cuddles cage.

“I just need you to watch him as I clean. He’s really been into getting in my trashcan.” She smiled, leading him to her bedroom.

Kuki had a plan, but even with it, she didn’t know how well it would go. Could he really be the alien? What if they got alone and he attacked her before she could put her idea into motion? Her heart rate increased as she opened the door to the bedroom. Now, Kuki never loved to brag about herself, but she was a damn fine actor. She played Ariel in her school’s production of The Little Mermaid just last year. However, unlike that time, she felt like one wrong move and she might get hurt by some alien stalker.

She brought her pet out from its cage before presenting it to Mr. Adams. “This is Mr. Cuddles.”

“Well, how do you do Mr. Cuddles. I am Mr. Adams, a pleasure to meet you.” He gave the small creature a bow.

Okay, that was nice, but niceties did not permit Kuki to let her guard down! She watched him from the corner of her eyes as she picked up the small dustpan and brush that was kept in the drawer from her bedside table. He stood by her wardrobe, holding Mr. Cuddles, scratching the spot he loved so much. She made pleasant small talk with him as she brushed the small droppings from the chinchilla’s fleece bedding. Once discarded into a trash bag she put her plan into motion.

“Hey, Mr. Adams? You know what guys like?”

Her question seemed to catch him off guard as his body tensed up. “I mean I was a teenager once upon a time.”

“Okay, cool!” She cheered, briskly walking over to her vanity. “Can you tell me if this seems like a smell a guy would like?”

She sprayed the ammonia onto her long-sleeved pajama shirt, she didn’t want her skin to smell like it. Not waiting for his response she shoved his hand up to his nose. He had no choice but to smell it and in turn, he let out a large cough. He coughed for a few seconds. He didn’t show any sign of being an alien. That caused Kuki to instantly feel guilty as she put down the bottle.

“Was that ammonia?” He asked as he began to get his breath back.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Mushi must have switched my perfume with it!” She stared at him with worry. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m okay. I have no clue if I should be proud that someone so young is interested in something science-related, or if I should be concerned that this is what she thinks is a prank.”

“Better than Nair in my shampoo.”

“Children still do that?”

Kuki felt her anxiety leave her and she could now breathe in a sigh of relief. One being that she feared that he was the alien and the other being that she caused him to breathe in a chemical. She jumped at the sound of constant banging on the door. Kuki left her principal behind as she ran downstairs to see who was now at her door.

She got to the first level of her home and heard Wally yelling at her to open up. She opened the door just as he was about to bang on it again.

“I’m okay!” She reassured him before she tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Why’d you come here? I said I would call you.”

“You let a stranger into your house that could possibly want to kill you, it causes for worry!” He scolded her.

He got even more annoyed as she thanked him with a smile. His green eyes went from Kuki and to their principal who got to the foyer. He held Mr. Cuddles in one hand and leaned against his cane. Wally did not hide his glare as he was greeted by the could be imposter.

“It’s okay, Wally.” Kuki whispered into his ear. “I sprayed some ammonia on him and he didn’t react at all! I mean he reacted because he started coughing, but he’s still able to move around!”

Wally didn’t say anything as he walked inside the house. He stared up at Mr. Adams who in turn gave him a raised brow of confusion.

“So is he here to bring you to the hospital?” He asked Kuki.

Before Wally could retort Kuki wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin against the top of his head. “Yes indeedy!”

Wally didn’t act phased by Kuki’s act of affection as he stared down the male. Even with the information from Kuki he still kept his guard up. Wally tore his eyes off of the man as he noticed Kuki walk to the stairs. He followed up several steps before Mr. Adams called to him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that Kuki’s mother would be okay with me allowing a boy to go up to her bedroom all alone.”

Wally and Kuki looked to each other before he grumbled. “Smells like chinchilla shit anyways.”

He took a seat on one of the leather chairs as Kuki scolded him. “Does not!”

She ran back upstairs to her bedroom and began to get ready. She wore the long sleeve that she put on earlier but added an extra lair with her white coat. She checked herself out in the mirror. Like every other day, she was just as cute as a button! Because step one with luring out an alien is to be confident. That’s what she told herself as she fiddled with the amber pendant.

Kuki always thought the pendant to be lucky. She won a raffle of 100 dollars the first time she wore it. Then there was the time where she aced all of her 10nth grade exams when she thought for sure she was going to fail. This little piece of amber would keep her safe, she knew it.

* * *

Wally sat in the living room. He still stared Mr. Adams down as he played with the chinchilla on the couch. Mushi had left for her bedroom because Wally was “being weird”. Now Mr. Adams might not be the alien, sure, but since he was holding Mr. Cuddles when Wally got there that meant that he was inside Kuki’s room and that pissed him off. His index finger tapped aggressively against the brown leather armrest.

“So Mr. Adams,” he began, his voice cool and calm, “kind of sick that you were left alone with a student in her bedroom.”

Mr. Adams face looked shocked but before he could explain himself Kuki got to the bottom of the stairs. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Wally spoke, his judgmental eyes lingering on the adult before he got in front of Kuki.

The two left the house, both unaware of what they would be doing for the next couple of hours. She looked down at him, he looked up at her.

“So what do you wanna do?” He asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

“We could go to your house.” She suggested.

“Fuck no. I’d rather die than take you back to my place so my parents can just gush about how you’re my girlfriend.” He told her as he walked down the walkway that would lead to the driveway.

“Okay. How about we go get something to eat and then to a movie?”

He stayed silent before he agreed. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“So how’d you get here so fast anyway?” She asked, both now in her driveway.

She didn’t need a reply as she spotted the dark green motorbike in her driveway. He answered her question even if she saw it. “Brought my bike. Luckily I had a spare key at my house.”

“Oh, Wally, I don’t know. I’ve never been on one before.” She told him as she watched him put on his helmet.

“Don’t be such a baby.” He chided before lifting up his extra helmet for her to take.

She scoffed. “I am not being a baby! There are no walls to protect us if we get hit!”

“We aren’t going to get hit.”

“What about helmet hair?”

“Your hair will be fine.”

“My purse?”

“Oh my God, Kuki, it will be midnight by the time we leave.” He groaned out shoving the helmet into her hands.

“Okay, fine. You don’t have to be rude about it.” She grumbled before putting the helmet on.

* * *

Wally pulled into the parking lot of a local diner. He hoped that when he parked Kuki would let go of him. First, it was cute, albeit embarrassing, but then he couldn’t breathe. When he parked he thought he would have to pry her arms away from his torso so he could get up but surprisingly she pulled them away.

He could feel that her helmet was still pressed against the back of his own. “So, Kuki, how was your first ride?”

She didn’t say anything. He quickly turned his torso to get a better look at her. She was still looking down. This instantly made him worry. He quickly took off his helmet to get a better look at her. “Ah, jeez are you okay? I tried to go as slow as I could.”

She mumbled something the blond couldn’t hear. He leaned closer only to jerk his body away from her when she yelled, “That was amazing!”

“It’s totally different from riding in a car!” She cheered before taking off her helmet.

Wally’s shoulders relaxed as he watched her babble on about what her first ride felt like. He smirked as he nodded his head in agreement. He didn’t say anything as he listened to her and watched her hands move around as she tried to motion just exactly what she felt. He could listen to her forever.

That realization caused Wally to falter. The smirk he had fell. Why would he want to listen to her babble on about something he already knew about? Exhilarating? Hell yeah, it was exhilarating but he wouldn’t say it. He had to stop this bubbling feeling that came to him.

“Are you just going to keep talking or are we going to go eat?”

Okay, that sounded harsher than he intended. It was Kuki’s turn for her face to faltered for a second before she bounced right back.

“Did you know they have the best milkshakes here? Personally, my favorite is strawberry but their chocolate is in a close second!” She stated as she got off of the bike.

“Never had one.” He admitted as he got off to put their helmets into the seats’ compartment.

Kuki was shocked, her overdramatic gasp let him know that. “What?”

“What?”

“You haven’t had one of their milkshakes?” She asked in astonishment. “Why do you hate yourself, Wally? Why?”

“So I haven’t had a cruddy milkshake it’s not a big deal.”

The two entered the diner. Kuki placed her hands on her hips as Wally put two fingers up to signal to the hostess that it was only going to be them.

“It so is a big deal!”

“Will you just let it go?” He groaned as they were led to their booth.

They sat down. The waitress gave them their menu’s and asked what the fine couple wanted. Wally couldn’t correct her as Kuki quickly ordered two waters and two milkshakes. She would have strawberry and Wally would have the chocolate. She just sat there smiling as the waitress walked away.

Wally rolled his eyes. Kuki just thought she was so cute, didn’t she? Even though she knew he was annoyed she ignored him. Looking over the menu as if he wasn’t giving her a look of annoyance.

“So I was thinking maybe some dessert,” Kuki suggested as she placed her menu down.

Wally let out a sigh of defeat, a smile coming to his features. “That’s a really good idea.”

The milkshakes came to their table when they finally decided what to get for their dessert. Wally got cheesecake, while Kuki was more than excited to get the banana cream pie. When she left the two Wally noticed that Kuki wouldn’t stop looking at him. He rolled his eyes before putting the straw in his mouth. He took a long sip of the shake. Damn, that was good. Holy shit, that was really good. Wally had to not drink from the straw to enthusiastically, he didn’t want her to know that she was right. It reminded him of the day before when she made him eat that tasty Rainbow Monkey snack.

“So?” She asked, her brown eyes seemed to already know that he liked it.

“Not bad.” That was all he was going to say about that.

Wally looked at his phone. They had only killed an hour and a half. What movies were even out? He began to look up if anything even good was playing when Kuki sat down beside him and began to point out movies that looked good.

He deadpanned when she suggested a movie with a couple holding each other. “I’m not watching a chick flick.”

“What, afraid you’re going to cry?” She teased, her cat-like grin coming to her face again.

“I am not falling for that.”

She feigned innocents. “For what?”

“You want me to argue with you and say, “No. I’m not going to cry.” And then to prove it to you I’d go see the movie. It won’t work.”

She eyed him, annoyed that he figured out her plan. She sighed before pointing at another one. “What about this one? It’s a spy movie, nothing chick-flicky about that!”

“That actually looks good.” He admitted before closing he darkened the screen.

Wally paid for the bill since Kuki had brought her purse but completely forgot that she only had 5 dollars in her wallet. The two left the restaurant and Kuki skipped to where they were parked. “How about I drive this time!”

“I would rather die.” He stated as he got to the motorbike before her.

* * *

They decided to just go to the park early when the movie was let out. Wally made sure to let both Hoagie and Abby know this just in case they wanted to start the rouse early. Now the movie was like every spy movie. The main character was sent to kill another spy. He was there to kill her too but they stumbled upon a bigger scheme by the government. It was easy to tell where some plot threads were going but the fighting and explosions were cool so Wally found it amusing.

Kuki sat on the bench eating the remaining of the candy she had bought from the theater. Wally sat beside her playing with his phone. The silence between the two wasn’t awkward, it was rather comfortable really.

Wally broke that silence. “So how do you know so much about snakes?”

“Well, when my mom asked if I wanted a pet for my 17 birthday I asked for a snake. I always thought they were so cute! But my mom refused and a week later I fell in love at first sight with Mr. Cuddles. It was meant to be!”

“That’s good. You don’t really seem the type to stomach feeding a dead mouse to a snake.” He chuckled, pausing when he saw the horrified look on Kuki’s face. “What the hell did you think they ate?”

Her voice was soft as she looked at him with her discouraged yet innocent eyes, “Tomatoes.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder as he busted into laughter. The situation was too much for him to handle. He struggled to speak through his laughter. “That’s so stupid.”

“No, it isn’t!” She tried to defend herself, her cheeks flushed.

“You don’t know what covert means, do you?” came a voice.

Wally calmed his laughter down as he and Kuki looked up to see Abby and Hoagie. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she gave them a look of judgment. Hoagie was holding a box. He was about to tell them what he was laughing at but was stopped by Kuki punching his arm. He glared at her as she pouted.

“I brought some walkie talkies. This way it’ll be easier to communicate while Kuki walks around.” Hoagie stated as he put his hand into the bag and tossed each their own.

“We could just use our phones.” Wally critiqued causing Abby to softly kick dust towards his jeans.

“Kuki doesn’t have one, dumbass.”

Wally had no room to fight back as Abby quickly changed the situation. “Here, you can use my phone. Just pretend to talk on the phone or whatever until he comes out.”

“Okie-doke!” Kuki saluted before grabbing the phone.

Each teen would be hidden from sight, and far apart so Kuki could have distance with walking up and down the pathways that went around one section of the park. Wally was stationed behind a bush, Hoagie a tree, and Abby at the top of the newly installed playground equipment. It was the main attraction of the park standing over ten feet tall. It held the slides and a small rock wall. It was a good aerial view.

“Everyone in position?” Abby asked over the communicator.

Everyone agreed that they were where they should be. Kuki walked up and down the sidewalk for about thirty minutes before becoming bored with it. She made her way over to the swings with a skip in her step, one would think she wasn’t scared of luring this alien out. She began to sing about what she was doing to calm herself down.

As things seemed to continue to be boring Wally brought out his phone to play a racing game. Abby, like Hoagie, remained on task as they scanned the area. Hoagie took notice that Kuki’s walkie-talkie was on the ground as it got in the way of her holding onto the swing. A smirk came to his face as he called Wally over the communicator.

“So,” he began only to have Wally repeat his word in an annoyed tone. Hoagie ignored it. “So you and Kuki came together again. That’s interesting.”

Wally rolled his eyes. “It really isn’t.”

“Sure, sure. So what did you guys do before coming here?”

“Just went out to eat and to the movies.” He responded, his tone uninterested as he beat the next level on his game.

“Oh, so a date? That’s nice.” Hoagie smiled as he watched Kuki twirl around before she got to the monkey bars.

Wally placed his phone in his lap as he paid more attention to the person over the walkie-talkie. He let out a groan of annoyance. “It wasn’t a date.”

“Did you pay?”

“Well yeah, she only had five dollars.”

“Totally a date.” He chuckled causing Wally to scoff in annoyance.

“She bought her own candy.” He stated oh so matter-of-fact that it was Hoagies turn to roll his eyes.

“Will you two fools shut up?” Abby interrupted.

Wally mumbled out. “He started it.”

“Well thank God I don’t care who started it. Now pay attention.” Abby’s annoyed tone was not lost on the two. “And boy, if you do not get off your phone.”

“I’m not on my phone!” Wally quickly defended himself as he shoved the device into his pocket.

“Yeah, just like how you and Kuki didn’t go on a date.” She shot back.

Abby and Hoagie could be heard over the speaker having to hold back their laughter. Wally was about to yell when Abby quickly announced that she saw something. Wally moved his body to look out from a portion of the bush that was broken away. Kuki had moved to the seesaw. She stuck her arms out as she balanced herself out. The seesaw bent down as she got the middle. She sure was having a good time, still singing the tune of how she’s playing on a playground.

Wally couldn’t see what Abby was talking about until he peaked his head over the bush. Under a lamppost was a hooded figure. He just stood there. What a creep. The three could see Kuki pulling out Abby’s phone once she got to the bottom of the seesaw. Good, she set the main part of the bait.

Kuki could feel the alien’s eyes on her before Abby even mentioned a visual. This was the second time that night where she felt her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Her legs were jelly, but she had to play the part of a good victim. She had pulled the perfume bottle from her purse and into her jacket when she got onto the swing. Her hand was squeezing it while the other carelessly held the phone. She kept telling herself that this practice would help her win an Oscar one day.

The sound of a twig snapping made her involuntary jump. Kuki knew she had to wait but the thought of the creature sneaking up from out of the corner of her eye made her want to throw up. She never felt such anxiety. She pulled out the perfume bottle, ready to press down and spray the thing. He was a lot closer than she thought he was. His tongue came out and in an unhuman characteristic feature, his tongue came out and wrapped around the bottle before tossing it against one of the pillars that held up the curly slide. She watched it shatter. The content glistened from the moon. It was as if it was taunting her failure to do her job.

Her eyes only remained on the spot for a moment before an intense pressure went around her neck. The ground wasn’t there anymore. She opened her eyes and saw that he held her up by his hand. She couldn’t breathe. Her fingernails sunk into at his wrists and arms to try and hurt him enough to get him to let her go. She tried to kick him but she couldn’t get to his body. Was this how she was going to go? Tears ran down her cheeks. She didn’t know if it was from her body’s reaction to being choked or if it were her tears of regret. She was so stupid for suggesting this!

Her body started to go weak, but she refused to stop fighting against him. She opened her eyes again, she wanted him to see the fight in her eyes. She wanted him to know that she would fight until he did kill her. Her brown eyes watched his body convulse. His grip on her was gone and she fell to the ground. Her lungs tried to breathe in as much air as they could but she couldn’t stop coughing.

She felt arms wrap around her shoulders as they pulled her into their chest. It was Hoagie. He told her in a soothing voice that he got her and that she was okay. She looked up and saw Abby put a taser back into her pocket. She could hear their voices but her mind was still trying to process what had happened. She didn’t know how long it was until she came back to them from her daze. They were by the lamp post, using the light to get a better look at the alien. She was off to the side sitting down on a bench.

The night air grew colder from the passing hour. She dumbly thought if she should have brought a jacket. Thoughts of the events, that she felt weren’t even minutes ago, came to her mind again. Her hand gripped something that was around her shoulders. What was it? She looked and saw it was Wally’s orange jacket. She felt like a ghost walking over to where the others stood.

Hoagie looked over to Abby. “Should I get some water?”

“I could always punch him until he wakes up,” Wally suggested.

“I don’t think that’s how that works.” To Abby’s response, Wally just gave her a shrug.

Abby was the first to notice Kuki. “You okay?”

Kuki gave her a weak nod. She kept her distance from the alien as she hide behind Abby. The light from the lamp post became brighter than before and a loud hum was over them. Kuki felt light, which was weird. She heard Hoagie curse as he grabbed at the lamp post. They were floating up. Abby grabbed his hand and then Kuki’s. Kuki, in turn, reached out for Wally’s. They were a chain as they tried not to get sucked up by the light. Their eyes watched the alien being pulled up by the beam.

“Hold on!” Hoagie ordered as he clung to the lamp post.

The hum became louder. It felt like Kuki’s eardrums were going to burst from the noise. The light became too bright for her as she shut her eyes. That was when she lost consciousness. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Hoagie came to his eyes fought to open as he wanted to go back to sleep, but he knew he needed to wake up. He needed to know where he and his friends were. Were they still in the park? Did they get brought onto an alien ship? The lights were too bright at the moment and he squinted his eyes in hopes to relieve them from the sharp sting. His face turned to the right and he saw that he was hooked up to a monitor. Was he in a hospital? Since when did aliens treat their victims with such care? His body ached when he forced himself to sit up. It looked to be a medical bay from a science fiction movie. Holy crap was he on an actually alien spaceship? But it was so big? Did he get to the mothership?

He looked over to the bed that was ten feet away from him. It was Abby. Her red cap was placed on the shelf above her. He touched his face. He turned and saw it above him. He covered his auburn hair with the brown hat and put on his signature yellow-tinted glasses. He looked around to make sure no one was around. They might have been given special treatment but he still felt the need to have his guard up.

“Abbs.” He called to her in a hushed tone.

No response.

He spoke a bit louder. “Abby.”

She still remained asleep. He shoved the covers off of himself and got out of the bed. The white tile floor was cold against his feet. He pulled out his IV, not knowing how far he’d be able to leave his bed. He looked down to notice that he was at least still in his clothes. He sighed, thanking whoever decided not to undress him. He got to Abby’s bed. He was gentle as he tried to shake her awake.

“Abby, hey Abby. Come on wake up.” He whispered to her until her eyes slowly opened.

“Hoagie?” She grumbled out in her groggy state.

“Yours truly.” He smiled, helping her sit up.

“Where the hell are we?”

Hoagie grabbed her red cap and dropped it onto her head for her to fix. “I think the alien’s mothership. Or at least someone's mothership.”

“What about Wally and Kuki?”

“No idea.” He reported as he helped her out of her bed. “Hey, you okay? You still seem a bit...”

“Out of it? Yeah. I don’t know what they did to me but I can’t seem to focus my eyes and my body feels weak. It’s rather annoying.” She mumbled out as she leaned against Hoagie for support.

“Don’t worry Captain, I got you.” He reassured her as he put her arm around his shoulders to help her stand.

“What will we do if we run into an alien?”

Hoagie was silent to the question causing Abby to sigh, “Wish it was you who felt this way. I could at least take on some alien trash.”

“Just give me your taser then.”

“Can’t. It’s not in my pocket, they probably confiscated it when we got onto the ship.”

“Well, that’s just super,” Hoagie grumbled as he got to the door the quickly swooshed open for the two.

His once annoyance of the lack of weapons quickly left as he gasped in astonishment. “Super.”

“Can you nerd out about this later?” Abby’s voice brought him back down to earth.

“You’re right, I know you’re right, but can I just do it for a second?”

“You got three.”

“Did you see that? They opened with a swoosh, you could hear it. Abby do you think they have mission controls? Imagine what that cockpit looks like. Probably has like a ton of buttons, maybe hyper warp drive. Could we take a detour? Do you think we have time? Man, I hope we have time.” Hoagie babbled as he walked down the hallway.

“Okay, it’s been three seconds now shut it.” Abby hissed as the two looked up to see the halls flashing in red light. “Great, your geek out gave away our position.”

Hoagie peeked his head around the corner and saw people running into another room. He quirked a brow as Abby moved her body to get a look at what confused the male.

“People? That’s not just my eyes playing tricks on me is it?” She whispered.

“No. The hells going on?” He looked down at her. His voice grew more concerned when he noticed she looked drained. “Maybe I should have kept you hooked up.”

“Totally fine…” She tried to convince him but her body went slack in his grasp.

His alarm skyrocketed as he went down with her to make sure she didn’t get hurt. “Abby?”

He picked her up, damned with being sneaky! He ran into the room that was filled with those in either tan nurse uniforms or in lab coats. The doors quickly swooshed open and he had to avoid being hit in the head with a tray. The room only had four beds compared to the six from where he and Abby woke up. He could see Wally through the shifting of people. He held one of the nurses by the collar of his uniform, ready to punch him in the face.

“Come anywhere near her and I’ll kill you, got it?” Wally yelled at him.

“Wally, they are just doctors. Now could someone please help me?” He asked the group causing Wally to curse at him.

“They’re aliens you dumbass! They’re cloaking themselves or something.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I woke up and saw that purple fuck loaming over Kuki.” He stated, pointing to the male who looked to be in his 30s.

“Who you calling a purple fuck, you short-ass?” The nurse shot back.

Well, that was unprofessional.

“Excuse me.” Came a voice from behind Hoagie.

He turned around to see a full-figured teen no older than 18. She had her hair in braids that went down her back and her blue eyes glared at him through her glasses. She walked into the room with a purpose and the staff froze at the sight of her.

“Does anyone mind explaining,” She began her voice calm only to flip as she yelled at the group. “Just what the hell is going on?!”

“He called me a purple fuck.” The male nurse tattled as he released Wally.

“Everyone out, and Cube, go be useful and bring me some water.” She ordered him, he begrudgingly walked out of the room. “I swear you would think he would learn how to have some bedside manner.”

“Excuse me?” Hoagie spoke up, causing the teen to look at him. “My friend, uh, something is wrong with her.”

She sighed as if the situation was the most annoying thing that could happen to her that day. She waved at the bed across from Kuki. “Put her on the bed.”

She pressed a button that caused a gadget to pop up from the side of the bed. It floated over Abby, a blue light coming from it. It scanned her up and down. It went into the woman’s hand, morphing itself into a clipboard. Hoagie would be fascinated if it wasn’t for the fact that Abby had fainted in his arms.

“Don’t worry Hoagie,” she told him as she looked up from the information sheet, “Abby will be fine in about three hours. Sometimes the effects of the inducer can vary between each individual.”

“So she’ll be okay?”

The clipboard morphed back to its original form before going back into the bed. She hooked an IV tube into Abby before as she spoke, “Perfect as a peach.”

Hoagie followed her as she began to walk towards the bed Kuki was in. He looked over to Wally who still looked like he was about to burst at any second. He looked down at the teen. “And Kuki, she’s still asleep.”

“It might take longer for her. Her body went through a traumatic experience so the inducer didn’t help at all. I told them that there was no need to use the inducer, but do people listen? No!” Her once calm tone became irritated as her attention was now somewhere else.

Hoagie leaned down to whisper in Wally’s ear, “This inducer seems a bit sexist.”

“I don’t really give a shit what it is, but I don’t trust her.” He responded, nodding over to the girl who was putting some gel onto Kuki’s bruised neck.

A nurse came back inside, shoving Hoagie into an already annoyed Wally. “Miss Devine!”

“What is it now!” She demanded as she looked up from the bed.

“The Commander would like a word with you and the humans.” They stated, their back straightening as she walked over to them.

“Tell him that two are still unconscious and will need some time to regain their strength.”

A look of uncertainty came over their face. “He- I think he really wanted it to be now.”

“And I’m sure they didn’t want to be put under because of the inducer but we all don’t get what we want, now do we. Now go tell him that he can take a nap or something.” She waved them away only to yell at them as they left. “And where the hell is Cube with my water!”

They watched as she grumbled angerly of the incompetence of the crew. Her annoyance went from her subordinates’ and towards the males who stood beside Kuki’s bedside. Her glare was now directed at Wally. “And what about you two? Also from what I read you aren’t even supposed to be in here.”

“I’m here with your water, ma’am.” Cube spoke up from behind her, his breathing labored.

She snatched it from his hand. “Oh, you sure took your sweet time. Now, why’s he here? He looks fine.”

“Well I was checking on him- might have accidentally forgot to turn on my hologram- and he woke up and punched me and on instinct, I punch him back. Thought I broke his nose for a second.” He gave her a sheepish laugh, but when he stared at her she did not look amused.

“Why are you laughing? You have one job and you can’t even do that right? I’m working with idiots! Idiots!” She sighed, her annoyance causing the room to become tense.

The doors swooshed open again, “Miss Devine?”

“What!”

“Commander Dickson would like a word.”

“Of course he would,” she grumbled before chugging down her water before shoving the glass back into Cube’s hands, “Stand outside and make sure they don’t leave. You can do that, right?”

He gave her a salute before she left. Wally and Hoagie watched him leave right after her.

“Well, she seemed annoying,” Wally grumbled before walking over to one of the beds.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a nap, I mean she said we can’t leave, right?”

Hoagie stared at him. He was right. There was really nothing they could do until she got back. How long was she even going to be? Wait, could she even talk to the Commander as she did with those around her? If so, Hoagie hoped they wouldn’t be there for too long.

Wally fell back to sleep with ease. Hoagie was different. He couldn’t sleep, too many thoughts raced in his head. He walked over to the wall at the back of the room. He leaned against it, wanting to look over his friends as they slept. He felt his elbow click something and a sudden noise came from behind him. He turned and was left in awe at the sight in front of him. The whole back wall turned into a window and there was the Earth. The photo taken by Apollo 11 did it no justice. He never understood when his mother would say, “Oh my goodness, does that just not take your breath away?” Whenever she saw something in nature or one of their vacation’s out of the country, of course, the only thing he ever felt that way was when he got his father’s old station wagon but even then that didn’t compare to the sight before him. His right hand touched the window.

The glass felt cold to the touch, but something caught his eye. Hoagie moved his face closer to where his hand touched. His index finger was touching the tip of Russia, but the country seemed to morph around his finger.

He pulled away and mumbled, “Hologram?”

The image quickly changed to that of the sun, and then they were above Venus. He had to take a step back, how did he do that?

“Something else aren’t they?” Came a voice from beside him.

He turned around and saw a guy no older than 19. He didn’t wear a lab coat or a nurse uniform, but a dark brown trench coat. His button-up white shirt was unbuttoned at the top as if the two buttons at the top would cause him not to breathe. He gave him a smile as if the two were old friends.

“Name’s Joe.” He greeted as he took his place beside the other.

“Hoagie.” He paused and looked to Joe who stared at the artificial planet. “Do we know each other?”

“Who knows.” He laughed before pulling something out of his jacket.

Joe placed a cigarette stick in his mouth before lighting the end. He noticed Hoagie’s eyes and offered him the pack, “Want one?”

“No. I’m good.” He deadpanned.

Joe stared at him for a moment before he started to laugh. Frankly, Hoagie didn’t understand why Joe found it so funny. He was a weird guy. Joe’s laughter left him as he stared at Venus.

“Should you even be smoking here?”

“Probably not. That reminds me, Lizzie wasn’t a total bitch to you guys?”

“Lizzie?”

“Yeah, red hair. Acts like she’s the smartest person in the room while the rest of us are just idiots she has to work with.”

“Oh yeah her! She was a little annoying.”

“Don’t worry. She’s alright when you get to know her.” He chuckled as he placed the stick back in his mouth again.

Hoagie stared at him for another moment. “You an alien too?”

“Nah. Sadly, I’m one hundred percent human.”

“Then you do know that those give you cancer.”

His retort caused the teen to take another drag before blowing the smoke out into the air again. Hoagie didn’t know if that was an act of rebellion towards the statement or just to show off.

“We’re all going to die one day, kid. Might as well go out from something that’s my own fault, right?”

Hoagie remained silent. Oh yeah, this dude was definitely weird. His once amazed state of mind was now on alert. Another human on an alien ship? Walking by himself no less? Hoagie read enough books to know not to trust such a character when introduced. They always had something up their sleeve and Hoagie right now was not a fan of the introduction of a plot twist.

Joe turned around, deciding to change the conversation himself. “Brought you and your friends your shoes, by the way, the floor here is hella cold. Also, you should get a better glare there, killer.”

Joe walked to the doors only to stop when they swooshed open. His hands were in his pockets. His left hand was playing with the pack of cigarettes. He turned his head back to look the other in the eye. “Hoagie, this world will chew you up and spit you out, so make your choices wisely.”

“Are you smoking again! I told you not to do that when you step into the medical bay.” A familiar nagging voice chirped.

Lizzie walked into the room, her index finger now pointing to Joe who rolled his eyes.

“Can’t I get cancer in peace without being nagged?” He groaned as he exited the room.

Lizzie ran and poked her head out of the doorway to yell at him. “No!”

“Excuse him.” She apologized as she turned back around to face him. “Would you like an extra pillow or something? It might take a while.”

“Not that tired. Do you have any books?”

Lizzie remained silent for a second as she gave it a thought. “Hold on.”

Hoagie held on for about 30 minutes as he waited for her to get back. Luckily for him, he had the scene of Venus to keep him company. He kept thinking of what Joe had said. Chew him up and spit him out? If he had to make a choice it would be whatever option there was to not go through that. What could have happened to him that made his view on the world so jaded?

Lizzie gave his head a light tap. He looked down and saw her holding a book. “Here, it seemed like something you’d like.”

“A Study in Scarlett? Didn’t peg you for a Sherlock Holmes fan.”

“Not really, but a good friend likes them.” She stated before giving him a wave and leaving the room.

Hoagie sat at the vacant bed and opened up the book. It had been years since he read it. He felt nostalgic for some reason as he flipped through page after page of the book. He occasionally looked up to take a glimpse of Venus, reminding himself just where he was.

* * *

_Undisclosed Location, the hour of night unknown._

Chad Dickson was a male who was reaching the end of his teen years as soon he would be celebrating the second decade that he was brought into this vast universe. He had aged far beyond his years from what he had seen and done within defending the universe from the Galactic’s. His face showed this with the scar that went from the top of his forehead and down to an inch below his left eye. The scar was hidden behind a black eye patch.

His chin was calmly placed in his hand as he looked at his computer screen. He would randomly use his free time to look in on his former teammates. Today was Rachel McKenzie. She was working to get into Yale, her “Dream School” as she stated on her bio. He hoped she was having time to be a teen too, she worked way too much. The doors to his large office swooshed opened and there stood Lizzie, hands on her hips.

“What is it? Are they up?” He asked, clicking the exit button on the tab.

“Yes. What do you want to talk to them about anyways? Protocol states that we just send them back down to where we found them. Just what are you planning here?”

“Is that any way to talk to your superior?”

Lizzie eyed him, unphased by his words. “It is when he’s being sneaky.”

“Not sneaky, just want some answers. Now go and get them, please.” He stated as he took a sip from his mug.

“Men! Every one of you has a secret plan, which is most likely stupid might I add.” She raved as she walked towards the door again.

“Oh? Who else around here is being sneaky?” He mused causing Lizzie to stick her tongue out at him.

“Like I’d tell you.”

Chad was able to quickly get used to Lizzie’s back talk and all-around lack of respect for her authority figures. Well, that was a bit harsh. She respected him, yes, but she was not afraid to call him out on his plans even if he shrugged it off. She was good to have around the base to keep him in check, albeit it could get annoying at times. It only took a few minutes for her to come back with the group of humans. Of course, he already knew all of them.

“Have a seat.” He offered as two couches morphed from the ground and in front of his desk.

They all took their seats. Each couch held a girl and a boy. Hoagie and Wally had a silent agreement that they did not trust this place and there had to be somewhat of a bodyguard to the other two because they were clearly not in good shape to fight themselves.

“So, you mind telling us where we are?” Wally asked.

Chad sat back in his seat as he stared at the angry blond. “No need to glare, Wally. We’re all friends here.”

He noticed Lizzie roll her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. He gave her a warning glare before looking back to the group in front of him.

“Are you guys friends with that snake guy, too?” Abby asked as she drank the bottle of water Lizzie had provided.

“No. He’s on the other side.”

Kuki spoke up, her voice hoarse. “Other side of what?”

“The war,” Lizzie spoke up as she made her way to stand in front of Chad. “Long story short we’re the Galactic Defenders. We keep this world, along with many others, safe from the organization known as Cosmic Unity. Trust me when I say this, they promise unity but really it’s just one big authoritarian regime.”

Lizzie could feel Chad’s glare on her back. She turned around, rolling her eyes at him. “What? You took too long.”

He shrugged as he placed his hands on his desk. “I have the flair for the dramatic, sue me.”

“Wait, hold on, what exactly do we have to do with this?” Abby asked causing the two to look at her.

Lizzie looked at Chad. “Oh, this is all you.”

Chad watched as Lizzie walked back to where she stood before. He rolled his eyes. “Gee, thank you ever so much.”

“Where to begin.” He mumbled as he rubbed his chin. “Let’s just get right into it, shall we? So that “snake guy” is known as Ul’rich. He’s an operative known for his ability to sneak in and out undetected.”

“They did have a lapse in time for 12 hours,” Lizzie interjected causing the male to nod.

“He must have hit you guys with a freezing agent.. but still 12 hours seems a bit long. You sure?”

She gave an innocent shrug. “That’s what I got from the blood.”

“You took our blood?” Hoagie asked, his offense being noted by the room.

“Don’t be such a seedling.” Lizzie sighed as she walked out of the room. “I’m going to go get the files for you.”

“Thank you!” Chad called to her before looking back at the group. “Like I was saying. He was assigned a task to take something from you, Kuki.”

“Yeah, we already deduced that it was her phone, what next,” Wally stated.

The group noticed the confused look on Chad’s face. “Phone? Yeah, no. If one of their operatives were found on camera they would just kill them. Can’t have proof if they’re dead.”

Kuki took in too much air as she gasped causing her to cough. Wally leaned and put his hand on her back before looking back at Chad. “He was going to kill her?”

“That or they would have killed Ul’rich himself for getting caught. But this has nothing to do with your phone. It’s that.” He stated, pointing at the amber necklace.

“My pendant?” She mumbled as she gained her ability to breathe again.

“Yes. That tiny flower inside it is actually what the Cosmic Unity is after. From what we could gather is that it is a tiny encrypted chip that will give them the ability to be one step closer to their main plan of having the universe under their control. This chip is only 1 in 12 of an encryption that gives us a map towards an object rumored to be the most powerful thing in which this galaxy has ever known. We have 3 in our possession while Unity has 4.” He was now standing in front of them, leaning against his desk.

He bent down to be at a better eye level with Kuki. She wondered why he looked so remorseful. “Now, Kuki, I hate to ask this but would you give us your pendant?”

She was quick to answer. “No.”

“Could you at least think about it?”

“I have no reason to think about this, you will always get the same answer. No.” She stated.

“Come on, it’s just a stupid necklace,” Wally spoke up from behind her.

“Stupid? My dad gave this to me!”

“Yeah, and my dad gave me a nice pair of shoes a month ago. If a galactic organization that’s fighting bad guys asked me for my shoes that would give them an advantage against them I would instantly give it to them. Why are you so hung up on it?” Wally demanded.

“This is more important than your stupid shoes, Wally!” She snapped causing her to have another coughing fit.

“We’ll put a pin in it.” Chad gave her a weak smile as he got back to his feet again.

The doors opened which caused the group to look and see Lizzie, along with someone else who she was dragging by the arm. He walked with a cane and was giving her an awkward look as if bleeding with her to stop. She ignored him. “I found what caused 12 hours.”

“Nigel, what the hell did you do?” Chad asked, his once friendly manner gone as he glared at him.

“I got the call that there might be an operative near where I was stationed so I-,”

“Your station is in sector 27. Last time I checked that’s nowhere near the ground. You better have a good explanation.” Chad stated.

Lizzie with an annoyed look on her face pulled up his arm and pressed his watch. In an instant, he was surrounded by blue pixels and he was soon transformed into an old man.

“Mr. Adams?” The four called out in unison.

Chad quirked an annoyed brow. “Mr. Adams?”

“Yeah, our principal,” Abby mumbled out, still taken aback by the situation.

“Explain yourself,” Chad demanded as he glared Nigel down.

The air in the room began to feel tense as their leader waited for an answer. Nigel jerked his arm away from Lizzie and turned off the hologram. His back straightened up as he walked towards his leader. Even with his limp, he seemed to hold an air of someone who should be respected.

“There was chatter that someone within the McClintock High School held an important artifact. I went to investigate as the Principal and as I was there I found possible new recruits.” He explained.

Chad, not looking away from Nigel, stayed silent for a moment. “Take them back to the medical bay.”

“Okay,” Lizzie mumbled as she took a step towards the four as a silent indication for them to get up.

“What the hell does he mean by “recruits?’” Wally asked as he got up.

“Everything will be explained later, now hurry up.” She nagged, her hands clapping together to enforce the need to hurry up.

Chad waited for them to leave. To explain the amount of anger he held was an understatement. He watched the doors close before he moved from his desk. Nigel seemed like he was about to ask something but the other didn't care. He pulled back his fist and punched Nigel in the face. He watched as he fell to the ground. Chad shook the pain from his hand as Nigel grabbed for his cheek.

“Of all the things that you’ve done, this is in the top ten of the most selfish things you’ve ever done,” Chad yelled as he glared down at the male who sat up.

Nigel used his right thumb to wipe the blood that trickled out of his mouth. He didn’t expect to get punched. Yelled at, sure. He was prepared for that. How could he stand there and call him selfish?

Nigel struggled to get back to his feet. He used the couch to steady himself as he regained his balance once again. Now it was his turn to be angry. “Selfish? They could turn the tides! They were some of the best agents out there!”

He felt his body jerk off the ground as Chad’s hands gripped the collar of his redshirt. Nigel told himself he was never afraid of his leader, but at that moment, with Chad’s eyes glaring him down as if he were the enemy, he felt that fear.

“You piece of shit! You almost got Kuki killed! You used your position of authority to make her bait so you could capture Ul’rich. You knew she had the artifact and you used her!” Chad shoved Nigel to the ground. “You want them to be a part of this? How can you want your friends to be a part of this? I mean my God, you just started to walk again! They almost died the last time and here you are trying to bring them back into it!”

“If we don’t recruit them we’ll surely lose against the Comic’s army.” Nigel explained as he sat up.

“Is this going to be the second time I have to stop a fight?” came Lizzie’s voice as she walked over to the two.

Chad’s chest heaved up and down as he tried to calm his breathing. He turned his back and walked back to his chair. He took a seat and turned his chair around so he could look at the wall. Lizzie let out a sigh as she bent down to help Nigel up. Her eyes grew wide as she noticed his cheek that had started to swell. Before she could ask if he was okay he shook her off, stating he was fine.

“You two are both dismissed.” He stated, his right hand gripping the armrest.

Lizzie’s voice was soft, “Yes sir.”

Nigel stalked away, his cane clanking loudly on the floor to show his annoyance. Lizzie caught up with him in the hallway. He was grumbling to himself.

“So, what happened?” She asked as she eyed the male’s swollen cheek.

“Ask him that.”

She stared up at him. Nigel noticed the look she gave him. He rolled his eyes, refusing to break from such a weak look. She hooked her arm around his, pulling him with her. “Come with me.”

It didn’t matter how much he called her name. How much he asked her to let him go. Her grip was tight, and determination strong. They got to her office. He looked around, she had more plants than the last time he was in it. A Devil’s ivy had been added as it hung beside her bookcase and an Orchid that sat beside her desk.

“Sit.” She ordered, shoving him down onto one of the leather seats that were in front of her desk.

Nigel watched her press the button that opened up her arrangement of ointments. He had to sit back and listen to her hum as she tried to find just what she needed. Why couldn’t Chad see just what was needed? Why was he being so damn stubborn over the whole thing? It wasn’t as if he wanted Kuki to get choked. That was a variable he forgot to take into account. He thought they would be able to be there to defend her at a quicker rate. He was too busy thinking over what had caused the situation to put Kuki in danger that he didn’t notice Lizzie rubbing his cheek with something thick. He took notice when he placed his cheek in the palm of his hand, only to pull away and look at the green goop.

“What’s on my face?” He asked her as she took her seat behind her desk.

“One of my home remedies. It should decrease the swelling. Did you two get into a fight because of you manipulating situations again?”

“I didn’t manipulate the situation.”

“Oh, come on!” She rolled her eyes. “From what Joe told me you put them all in detention together. Let me guess, you got a call the Ul-whatever, was in the area and you dismissed yourself. You wanted them out of the class so you could shoot them with a freezing dart. Too bad for you because he got there later than you expected which meant the freezing agent wore off and they got caught up in the situation. You called their houses using the voice modulator for them to have an alibi because cops would be a problem for you.”

She paused as she placed her head in her hands, a smirk coming to her face. “Tell me if I missed anything.”

“No.” He sighed in defeat. “That about sums it up.”

“They did work as a team though, too bad the situation blew up in your big fat face.” She laughed, her left hand slapping her desk.

She noticed his glare. She calmed her laughter and wiped away the tear that came out of her eyes. “Sorry. But Nigel, do you know why it failed?”

Nigel leaned against the back of the chair. He looked up at the ceiling as if the answer was up there. If it was just written in invisible ink and all he had to do was look a bit closer. His voice was soft, defeated almost. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“It’s because you weren’t there. You’re still thinking of them as your team so you subconsciously act as if you’re going to be there to help them out.” 

Her statement made Nigel’s eyes pry themselves away from the ceiling. He looked at her. She moved on from the subject as she began to sign some documents. He didn’t know what to say to the new information. It made sense, it had been years since the last time he fought alongside them. He did think that they had a key ingredient missing when they worked with one another but he thought it was because they might not be as close as before. But him? They were more than capable of handling things without him, right?

He tapped his foot against the ground as he tried to figure out if what Lizzie said was true or not. He now imagined the situation with him there. Where would he be? In a tree? Hidden within a slide, peeking through one of the cheaply made see-through windows that allowed sunlight to light the path all the way down to the end. He would have warned everyone to be aware of the area around them because they did not know what the enemy had in store.

Nigel took off his sunglasses to wipe his tired eyes. “Shit, you’re right. You are so right.”

“I usually am.” She hummed as she looked up from the documents. “Now that you’re here how about a small check-up?”

“No thanks.” He grunted as he got up from the chair.

Her eyes went back to her documents as she gave him a simple command. “Sit.”

He found himself doing so. Her seat moved from her desk to her bookshelf. She looked through her papers before kicking herself back to where she once was. He hated these parts. She would go through questions, he’d answer. He had to force himself to tell the truth rather than do the simple thing and say that everything was okay.

“I see you’ve been seeing your physical therapist, so that’s good.” She spoke, before she peeked up at him, her eyes gave away her annoyance. “Funny, since you barely see me for your checkups.”

He let out a nervous laugh. “Well, you know me, busy, busy, busy.”

“You only have to see me every 3 months.” She snapped.

“It’s because you’re just so good looking, it makes my adolescent brain all nervous.” He tried to reassure her, not wanting her to be angry during their whole session.

She stared at him, her face telling him that she herself didn’t believe that. “Right. Moving on then. From a scale of one to ten how would you describe how often your pain occurs?”

“Seven, I guess.”

“From a scale of one to ten how would you describe the pain?”

“Eight.”

“From a scale of one to ten, how would you describe your mental state?”

Lizzie looked up from the papers as Nigel grew silent. It always took a bit of coaxing to have the bald teen to open up when it came to the negative aspects of himself. She kicked off her desk and spun around until she hit against one of her many sleek bookshelves. The motion caused the serious look Nigel had to disappear as he asked her if she was okay. She pressed a button on her shelf, ignoring him. The bottom opened up, a fog of cool air came into the room. He heard clinking and quirked a brow. She took out two bowls and a silver tub of something. The cupboard closed and she kicked herself away from it and slowed herself down as she got to her desk.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his blue eyes watching as she placed two crystal bowls onto her desk.

“Nothing.” She hummed before she took the top off of the tub.

He watched her place two scoops of chocolate ice cream into each bowl. This was no ordinary, Nigel realized as he took a closer look. It was a rare form of ice cream that could only be found in an alien diner that was hidden in the Andromeda Galaxy.

“Where did you get that?” He asked in astonishment.

“I know people. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion but I feel this might be as good a time as any.” She stated, placing a spoon in each bowl.

Nigel reached over to grab his bowl, only to have Lizzie pull it away from him. “But only if you tell me the answers I want to know.”

“Are you serious? What do you think I’m five or something?” He asked, offended by her bribe.

She ignored him as she took a bite. “Oh my goodness, this is so good! It’s like little drops of heaven right in my mouth!”

Did she really think that tactic would work on him? Him, Nigel Uno? He went through extreme amounts of torture when interrogated back during their battle in the Pinwheel Galaxy. Like some ice cream would get him to talk. Now it was just the principle of the matter! A shiver went up his spine when he heard her moan in pleasure, praising the taste. Come on Nigel, focus! She will not get to you. Even if she’s eating something crafted by some food god.

“Give me the bowl.” He grumbled, annoyed that he could cave over such a thing.

“Such a good boy!” She teased as she placed the bowl back on her desk for Nigel to take.

“Only ‘cuz you’re a sneaky witch of a woman.” He stated before placing the spoon in his mouth. He quickly changed his tune. “And by sneaky witch of a woman I, of course, mean someone to perform such miracles of getting something as good as this.”

“Thank you. Nigel, you know as understaffed as we are I could just find you an earth person for you to talk to. More private and confidential.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” He rolled his eyes. “Hey there doc, let me tell you about the horrifying feats I faced while fighting aliens.”

“Part of your recovery is talking about your mental state, Nigel. I’ve known you for a long time and your emotional constipation when it comes to sharing can be difficult to get through but let’s tear down those walls here!” She stated, placing her spoon back into the bowl.

“I’d rather not.”

His simple statement made Lizzie roll her eyes. “I hate doing this, but Nigel as a higher-up I have to demand you to do as you are told, so share your feelings. Come on now. How about we take a different approach. How are you sleeping? Restless?”

Nigel paused, now that wasn’t a bad question. He could answer that. “No. I actually fall asleep rather quickly nowadays.”

“What about your dreams? Are you still having nightmares?”

“Sometimes.”

“How often?”

“I don’t know, Lizzie, I forget.” He snapped.

She ignored his annoyance as she looked over the papers. “Two to three times a week? Maybe it’s five?”

“It’s four.”

“Four? The nightmares went down at least, so that’s good.” She gave him a reassuring smile as she wrote down his answer.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you having them, nightmares that is.”

She stayed silent, slumping against her chair. Nigel ate his ice cream as he waited for her to answer. Her neatly manicured nails tapped against her desk.

“I think about once or twice a week.”

“They leave you awake for hours? Like you can’t breathe?”

Even with his questions, Lizzie could see the desperation in his eyes. He wanted to know that he wasn’t the only one feeling like that. She let out a sigh, a weak smile on her face. “Yes. But I usually just use that time to come and water my babies. It’s nice to talk to them, if you want you can come in here and talk to them too.”

“No thanks.” He stated before nodding over to the vicus. “I’m pretty sure that one talks shit about me.”

“Oh, Phinny? No, he likes you. It’s Chester who talks smack.”

“Which ones Chester?” He asked, moving his twisting his body this way and that to try and find the specific plant.

“It’s this little guy right here!” She smiled, using her pin to point at a small succulent. She leaned forward as if she was about to share a secret with the other. “You want to know why?”

Nigel played along. “Why?”

“Because he’s prickly.” She smiled.

She quickly broke it as she began laughing at her own joke. Nigel stared at her for a moment before laughing himself. Not because the joke was funny but because the tension before seemed to overwhelm him.

“Oh, so he doesn’t hate me.” He chuckled.

“No, he does.” Her smile caused Nigel to lose his.

“Why? What have I ever done to that dumb plant?”

“Well for one, you call him dumb. Plants have fragile feelings you know.” She stated, her fingertip gliding over the plants’ dirt as if she was trying to calm him down.

Nigel averted his gaze. “I noticed.”

The sound her office doors opening caused her to set the plant down. It was one of the lower rank soldiers. “Miss Devine?”

“Yes?”

“Um, Joe Balooka’s smoking in the shuttle bay again and won’t leave.”

“For the love of everything green!” She shouted as she jumped from her seat and stalked out of the office. Her head popped back in for a brief moment, her annoyance now directed at the male. “Nigel, once you finish eating that, don’t you dare think about leaving, we aren’t finished!”

He waved her off as he finished up his ice cream. His eyes were trained on the small cactus. That little thing hated him? Nigel refused to think of himself as egotistical but he knew for sure that he was a great guy. Besides manipulating situations and keeping his feelings to himself, but other than that he was fun to be around.

“Listen here Chester,” he grumbled as he leaned forward to get a better look at the plant. “If you keep this attitude up I am definitely not going to water you the next time Lizzie has to go on another outer space mission.”

With that threat, he placed his bowl onto the desk. He limped out and into the hallway. Should he go talk to the team? Explain everything that had happened? Did they already piece together that he was the one that called and gave them alibis? Did they know that he had planned for them to fight against Ul’rich from the start? He should have grabbed some water from her fridge, he was starting to get cotton mouth.

* * *

Hoagie was finishing up the last chapter of the Scarlet Study. Wally laid on one of the beds, staring up at the ceiling, debating whether he wanted to go to sleep or not. Abby was looking out and onto the false planet of Venus, and Kuki distracted herself by braiding her hair into two pigtails.

Wally was the first to break the silence. “You know, it wouldn’t be so bad being a recruit or whatever.”

“What?” Hoagie looked up from the book, a brow quirked at the sudden declaration.

“It’s not like I’m going to college.” He stated as he sat upon the bed.

“You aren’t going to college?” Kuki asked her braid now finally complete.

“Nah. Not really book smart.”

“Wally.” Kuki gave him a sad look, her voice conveying that she felt bad that he saw himself in that light.

“It’s not like I’m down on it or anything. I mean my grades definitely wouldn’t let me in.”

“Do they even pay?” Hoagie asked. “Or is it one of those things where you fight for freedom and for the greater good?”

“That’s a deal-breaker. I would very much like to get paid for putting my life on the line.” Wally stated as his head hit the pillow once again.

The group fell silent again. Kuki began to undo and redo her braids to keep her occupied again. Abby went back to her bed to lay down. Hoagie finally got to the last page. He finally finished it, placing it down beside him now wondering what he would do. As if the universe decided to help him out the doors swooshed open and there stood Nigel.

He leaned against his cane as he tried to find the right words to say. He raised his hand up and let out an awkward, “Hello.”

“Mr. Adams- I mean Nigel, you mind explaining to us what is so special about us? I mean we’re just some kids that got mixed in with something beyond our control.” Abby stated as she watched him tap his cane against the ground to summon a chair that was pushed under a desk.

He let out a grunt as he sat down. He looked at her and then the floor, only to look at all of them. He was trying to figure out what to say.

“I have observed people from both sides of the war and I _know_ you all are one of the biggest threats that the Unity will face.” His eyes were focused as if his words were a fact and not some idolized vision.

“You’ve been watching us?” Hoagie asked as he shifted on his bed, slightly uncomfortable about being kept under a microscope of someone he didn’t even know.

“That explains his weird crush on Kuki,” Wally grumbled.

Nigel’s composure broke, his cheeks heating up at the accusation. “I don’t have a crush on her! If this about me going up to her room I’m sorry, but she asked me to go up there.”

There was a pause before he raised his right hand while his other pinched the bridge of his nose, “Okay, I know how that sounds but she only brought me up there to make sure I wasn’t the alien.”

“So you knew and still went up there, that’s awfully suspicious.” The blond observed causing Abby to roll her eyes.

“It really isn’t.” Abby sighed before turning her attention back to Nigel. “So let’s say we do join your little rebel force. What happens next? We still have school and college applications to fill, what about our daily life?”

Nigel looked up at the ceiling as he began to think of a plan for the four. “Well if you joined you’d have to go through 3 months of training. It might be longer if you wanted to continue your schooling. Probably would have to stay here during the weekends to get in as much training as possible for the missed time during the weekdays. Of course, we could come up with a cover such as you four being selected for a small internship at Georgetown.”

“Nigel, you’re rambling.” Abby pointed out as the four saw Nigel’s mile-long stare quickly come to a halt.

“Sorry.” He coughed after taking his eyes off of the ceiling.

“One question?” Wally spoke up, Nigel gave him a nod for him to continue. “If we join will we get paid?”

“Wally!” Kuki scolded, he shrugged at her comment.

“I’ll have to check but I think I could work something out,” Nigel stated causing Wally to smirk.

“Then I am in!”

“It would be cool to save the galaxy from tyranny,” Hoagie spoke, his smile showing that he was coming around to the idea.

Kuki began to rub her throat as she went into deep thought. She looked from her bed to Nigel. “What about our families?”

“We’ll keep an eye on them, but we have Ul’rich so the threat should be gone.”

Nigel’s words seemed to calm her down. Abby, however, was not as convinced. She eyed the bruise that was forming on the side of Nigel’s cheek. She knew he wasn’t telling them something. It had to most likely do with whoever punched him. Whether it was good or bad she didn’t know.

The doors to the room opened, someone yelling, “Uno!” causing the rest to look up. It was Chad who stalked into the medical room, Lizzie quick at his heels as she tried to calm him down.

“Now don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming!” She stated as she stood between him and Nigel.

“Good news, they want to help. You know what that means?” Nigel gave Chad a look that screamed smug and that did not sit well with the leader.

“I refuse. They have yet to process what exactly they are up against.” Chad stated, his stance firm as he watched Nigel’s confidence falter.

“For Christ’s sake Chad, one of them has a sister on the team so that should just show you what they can do!”

Chad’s once composed look quickly left as his eyes narrowed on the other. “Nigel!”

“Who’s sister?” Abby asked as she looked over to Kuki who shook her head mumbling that Mushi wasn’t even old enough to go to the mall alone. Abby repeated herself, now more demanding. “Who’s sister?”

Chad’s glare from Nigel softened as he stared at the girl. “Cree. She’s on a mission right now but should be back by Thursday.”

“Thursday?”

“He’s lying.” Nigel interrupted causing his leader to once again yell out his name.

Lizzie reached up and placed her hand on Chad’s chest, “Let’s all just calm down.”

“What’s he lying about?” Abby demanded.

“Cree was on a mission and there was a transmission earlier today stating that she was captured but managed to send a distress signal,” Nigel told her.

“What? What exactly was her mission that would cause her to be captured!” Abby shouted as she quickly stood from her bed.

“That’s classified,” Chad stated before Nigel could go any further.

“If I joined your little rebel force would that have me on a need to know bases?”

Chad paused before turning around. “No, but join if you wish. I must warn you, however, if you cannot last the training you will leave, memories of this place will be wiped from you. I’ll go fill in your training papers now.”

“You need time to process what happened. Nigel, a word.” Lizzie spoke, picking up the boy from his forearm.

He couldn’t protest as he was dragged out of the room and into the hallway. Lizzie brought him to his room.

Nigel played innocent as he stared at his door. “Lizzie this is so sudden.”

“That’s the second time you manipulated a situation to go your way. Luckily for you, this one worked out better than the first.” She stated as she let go of his arm.

“Lizzie I don’t know what-,”

“You went over Chad’s head, again. Your job is not to recruit.”

“I find it better to ask for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Spoken like a true man who was never punished as a child.”

She pressed the button to open up the door to his room. He walked inside as she let out a sigh. He turned around, ready to roll his eyes and ask her what else she wanted to talk to him about. Her stared stopped him.

“You’ve become more calculating with age, Nigel.” Her sad eyes quickly went back to their calm glow as a teasing smile came to her. “Which I find totally hot and junk but trust me as someone who did the same kind of things back in the day, that isn’t a way to treat your friends. You only mentioned Cree because it would undermine Chad and at the same time cause Abby to have a reason to join. If Abby found out you were only using her sister to make her join I’m sure she’d be upset.”

Before Nigel could respond Lizzie pressed the button to close the door. He stood in silence. It was the second time that day Lizzie had to not only scold him but give him advice. He limped over to his bathroom and reached to crab his pain medication. His lower back was having one of its bad days. Well, right now it was forming into a very bad day. He gulped down the water that filled the glass cup that sat beside the sink. He had to refill it as his mouth still felt dry.

* * *

It had been an hour since they were given the news about Abby’s sister. The three didn’t know how to comfort the girl as she sat on her bed, not saying anything.

“I’m thirsty,” Kuki mumbled as she stared at her empty water bottle.

“Here, how about we go find something. There has to be a machine somewhere here, right?” Hoagie offered as he got up from his bed.

Abby waited for the two to leave before she looked over to Wally as he got to the ground and began to do push-ups.

She walked over to him, “What are you doing?”

He paused as he got to the ground before pushing himself up. “It’s so boring just staying in here, so I decided to work out.”

“You could have gone with Hoagie and Kuki.”

“Kuki’s still pissed at me for telling her to give them her stupid necklace.”

Abby sat down onto the ground, watching him. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.” He grunted.

“What do you think of this Nigel guy?”

Wally stopped his push-ups and looked up to her. He saw the look on her face and moved his body to sit in front of her. “Honestly? I don’t trust him.”

“Me neither. Something about him just doesn’t sit right with me. Didn’t you say he went into Kuki’s room?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, he said he was watching us. He knew of this alien and the night we went out to catch him, Nigel just so happens to show up at Kuki’s with her stuff? He even knew that Kuki suspected him of being the alien.”

“Yeah?” He gave her a look that said he was close to getting what she was saying, causing her to sigh.

“He set all of this up. But why? Why would he put us in harm’s way, isn’t he supposed to be a good guy?”

“It could have been a test. You know, to show that we’re actually worth this Galactic-whatever’s time.” Wally suggested.

“Maybe.” Abby paused before eyeing Wally. “Why don’t you trust him?”

“I just don’t like his face,” Wally admitted. “But listen, if you ever want to go against him I’ll have your back.”

* * *

Hoagie and Kuki, with the help of some very kind nurses, showed them to a small break room they had. It held various brands of soda, apple juice, fruit punch, and water. Kuki had apple juice while Hoagie went with one of the sodas. The room was empty of any of the staff that worked on the medical deck. He eyed her necklace and remembered her reaction to when Chad asked her to give him the necklace. His eyes went to her neck, the bruising was slowly starting to disappear. Alien medicine sure was something.

“Hoagie?”

His eyes snapped away from her neck and to her face. “Yeah?”

“Am I a bad person for not wanting to give them my necklace? I mean it seems like it could help save the universe, right?”

“That’s difficult to say. I’m sure it would help the Galactic’s cause, but you could argue that you have it allows the Cosmic’s to not use it.”

“It’s just,” Kuki began as she twirled the pendant in her right hand, “my dad gave this to me, and it’s very dear to me.”

Hoagie stared at her, an understanding in his eyes. He took off his hat and placed it on the table to get a better look at it.

“Yeah. My dad gave me this hat when I was 8. So I get it.” He looked up to her. “But I would ask myself what my dad would want me to do. I mean it’s just an object, the love I have for my father won’t leave. He would want me to give them my hat if it meant helping them fight the good fight.”

Kuki felt tears prick her eyes, her emotions at their wits end again after a stress-filled night.

Hoagie placed his hat back on as he quickly tried to calm her down, “I mean it’s still your decision! Besides you have all the time in the world to think it over since we’ll be training here.”

“Thank you Hoagie.” She stated as she reached over for one of the tables napkins.

She wiped away the tears in her eyes as she regained her composure. She was happy that Hoagie understood where she was coming from and didn’t think she was stupid for it. She still didn’t want to give away her pendant but she would now put more thought into it since she had more time to think about it while there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, so I seemed to be getting ahead of myself by wanting to release a chapter every week. So I'm just going to say Wednesday or Thursday. Not every week but those will be the days I'll try and post on! Also, I used my own experience with dealing with the questions Lizzie asked Nigel during their small doctor visit so if I got any information wrong on that, that's my bad. I hope you liked this chapter, and I wish you all a wonderful day :D


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